Naruto: Xenonin
by Raja-Ulat
Summary: Having found a discarded textbook concerning seals, Naruto decided to create his own summoning contract to gain an animal companion. What he got was far more alien than he had ever expected. (Edit: Adopted by HellkingUzumaki)
1. Chapter 0

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction. With that said, I hope you enjoy my literary contribution.

**Chapter 0: Summoning**

Konohagakure, the Hidden Village of Leaves located in the Land of Fire, is one of the major powers in a world where ninja act as hired mercenaries, law enforcers and even soldiers of war. Guided by its Will of Fire, the belief in which love is the true source of strength which will bring people together and overcome conflict, the village is among the most prosperous and peaceful of the hidden ninja villages. However nothing in the universe is perfect and Konohagakure is no exception to this rule…

An eleven-year old blond boy with sun-tanned skin, cerulean-blue eyes and two pairs of three whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks was grinning in almost manic glee as he completed his latest masterpiece, a homemade summoning contract seal. Having recently found a discarded book at the ninja academy which taught the basics of seals, including summoning contracts, the boy named Uzumaki Naruto was eager to make one. Not only do all the awesome ninja, including the Legendary Three and the Fourth Hokage, have summoning contracts of their own but Naruto will also be able to get himself a friend. For a boy who had been alone for as long as he could remember, treated as a pariah by almost everyone in the village with only a precious few exceptions, being able to gain a friend alone would convince him to make a summoning contract. Besides, how hard can it be?

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with a bloodied hand, courtesy of using his own blood to make the seal as a replacement of a special kind of ink required to make seals, Naruto grinned at the circular seal he had made on the wall of his small rundown apartment. At the middle of the seal was a single spiral with a thicker centre and a tapering outer end. Rubbing his hands together, Naruto's grin widened as he recalled the information he got from the admittedly outdated book. "Just write my name on the seal, place my bloody fingerprints onto it and finally add some chakra into it. Easy!"

Quickly writing his name beside the seal followed by adding a bloody handprint beside the name, Naruto then took a deep breath and summoned as much chakra as he could, causing a blue glowing aura to radiate from him. Aiming at the centre of the summoning circle, the boy shouted, "Here, I go, dattebayo!"

Releasing that massive burst of chakra into the seal, Naruto was suddenly thrown back as the seal exploded in a flash of light followed by a thick cloud of acrid smoke. Groaning in pain due to the recent physical abuse his body went through, Naruto's eyes widened in amazement as the smoke cleared to reveal a black scorch mark where the seal used to be and, more importantly, a greenish-grey leathery egg with four petal-like lips on top. Staring at the egg curiously, Naruto approached cautiously with a kunai, a type of throwing knife, in hand as he wondered what kind of animal lays eggs like that.

Suddenly, the eggs' four petal-like lips opened, causing Naruto to flinch as raised his kunai in self-defence. Seeing no further reaction, Naruto lowered his guard and slowly approached the egg, wondering what kind of animal was hatching from it. He got his answer soon enough as a spider-like creature with dark-brown chitin for skin, webbing between its five clawed legs and a vertebra-like tail with a bladed tip suddenly launched itself from the egg and latched onto his face. Before Naruto could fight it off, he suddenly lost consciousness as he felt something going down his throat…

Scene Change

Meanwhile, from within the confines of its prison, a demonic nine-tailed fox known as Kurama, the Kyuubi no Youko, felt a hostile foreign presence. Growling at the presence beyond the confines of his prison, Kurama spat, "What did that brat do this time?" His eyes widened in shock and even horror as he saw what the foreign presence was doing. Desperate to save itself, the fox was forced to act. "Brat, you owe me for this…!"

On the following day…

The first thing Naruto felt was an incredibly sore feeling, especially from the lower right of his ribs. "Feel's like something just broke out of my chest and then put it back together…" The boy's thoughts then froze the moment his fingers touched something eerily familiar. Turning his attention towards whatever he was touching, Naruto screamed in terror as he saw the same egg which produced that freaky spider-creature that hugged his face and shoved something foul down his throat. Panicking, Naruto looked around desperately for the creature before calming himself as he saw no trace of it. Suddenly feeling thirsty and hungry, Naruto decided to quench his thirst and hunger before doing anything else for the day.

Greedily gulping a tall glass of water, Naruto gasped in relief as he felt slightly better already. He then proceeded to prepare a kettle to boil some water over a stove. As the water in the kettle slowly boiled, Naruto sat onto a chair as he pondered what in the world happened to him after that freaky spider-thingy knocked him out. He never considered the possibility that his still-aching ribs may be related to the face-hugging spider, or the fact that his old faded-white shirt now had a hole surrounded by bloody-red ring around it. Then again, the boy was terribly hungry and tired.

Suddenly, Naruto noticed something very odd with his bed. For one thing, he did not remember owning pillows large enough to form that large lump underneath the blanket. As if that was not enough reason for suspicion, that bladed tail, which resembled that of the spider, was poking out from beneath the blanket. Feeling his heart pounding from within his aching ribs, Naruto cautiously approached the creature with a kunai in hand. After tentatively approaching his bed, holding his breath every time the tail twitched, Naruto grabbed hold onto the blanket and, in a swift motion, pulled it off the bed. Immediately assuming a defensive pose, Nartuto was expecting the creature to attack him, only to be greeted by a sight which mad his jaw drop like a ton of bricks.

Lying on his bed, curled up into a foetal position which practically screamed vulnerability, was a naked girl with blood-red hair, pale skin, a strange exoskeleton covering her forearms, lower legs and along her spine, four ventral vents protruding from her upper back as well as a vertebra-like tail with a bladed tip from the base of her spine. Naruto also noted that the girl had a cute feminine face as her brows furrowed in displeasure at the sudden brightness. Moaning slightly, the girl struggled to stay asleep only to finally give up as her eyes fluttered open, revealing black sclera, amber-yellow irises and cat-like pupils.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the girl finally noticed the dumbstruck Naruto, his jaw still opened wide from the shock while his hand was still holding onto his kunai. The girl innocently assumed a sitting position without minding about her nudity and tilted her head as she observed him curiously with a blank expression on her face.

One whole minute of awkward silence passed before Naruto finally regained the required mental acumen to speak, "Uh, hello?" Seeing no reaction from the girl, other than blinking, the boy lowered his guard and asked, "You don't happen to see a freaky face-hugging spider-thingy, did you?"

Suddenly an image of the face-hugging creature appeared in Naruto's mind and, before the boy could react, he saw more images which seemed to explain the lifecycle of the creature. Coming from the leathery egg with the four petals on top, the spider-like creature would then seize a person by the face in order to implant an embryo into their chest cavity. After successfully implanting the embryo, the spider would then naturally expire although there are unique "royal" types which can implant two embryos into two separate hosts before dying. Once implanted, the embryo would grow inside the chest cavity of its host until it becomes large and strong enough to break free thereby killing its host. Once free, the snake-like larva would proceed to consume some food before moulting into an adult, some which are actually queens responsible for both leading the hive and laying more eggs, much like the queens of an ant colony, thus repeating the vicious cycle. However something occurred when the girl, who was supposed to be a queen herself, tried to develop within the boy's chest. A malicious crimson creature, composed of an energy her kind had never encountered before, attempted to destroy her. The crimson energy creature encountered a complication however when the face-hugging spider, still latched onto Naruto, started to strangle him in defence of the still-developing embryo. Realizing that it could not kill her without killing the boy, not that it will simply sit by and let her kill him, the creature decided to make a deal with her. She would be allowed to grow safely inside the boy, in exchange of losing her original form to that of a human as well as not killing the boy. Of course, given her originally alien nature, she would never become fully human which the creature assured her was not an issue as she would be what it called a "bloodline limit" human. Agreeing with the creature, after being shown images of insanely powerful humans which possess deadly abilities her kind had never encountered before, the girl proceeded to take on more human traits that any of her own kind had ever done before. She also made it a point to break out of the boy's chest in the least damaging way possible while the energy creature used its own powers to heal the boy's broken chest. Still in her original larval form, she then devoured both the spider and her sibling embryo, taking care not to get any of their apparently acidic blood onto the boy, before sleeping and moulting into her current semi-human form.

Recovering from the images implanted into his mind, Naruto stared at the girl in wide-eyed horror as she was the "child" of the spider creature that attacked him. What horrified him even more however was the crimson creature she met as Naruto recognized it, the Kyuubi no Youko which attacked his village on the very same day her was born. "Was… was it inside me…?" Like any other student of the ninja academy which he attended, the boy learnt that the Fourth Hokage either slew the beast of sealed it away forever. To realize that the creature was not only alive but was sealed inside of one's own body was hardly a pleasant revelation.

Shaking in fear and revulsion, the boy pointed his kunai at her as he asked, "A-are you going to kill me now?"

Rather than answer, the girl's thoughts and emotions became known to Naruto as she seemed to ask, "_Why?_"

Shaking off his bewilderment from somehow understanding her, Naruto accused, "Because you tried to kill me earlier!" While not unfamiliar with death threats or even danger, Naruto never terrifyingly felt so close to getting killed as that previous day.

"_Killing you, necessary back then. No longer necessary now._"

Normally the girl's words would not reassure anyone but, as her thoughts were sincere and Naruto was optimistically naïve by nature, Naruto chose to believe her for the moment at least. Lowering his guard, Naruto said, "Alright, but we're meeting Jiji the first things after breakfast."

Tilting her head, the girl said her first vocal words, "Jiji?"

Half an hour later…

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third and current Hokage of Konohagakure, also known as the Professor as well as the God of Ninja, was thunderstruck by the story Naruto had just told him. As one of the few people who care for Naruto's welfare, Hiruzen was understandably upset at the boy's foolhardy attempt at summoning as he could have just as easily made a giant version of what is meaningfully known as an exploding seal. What really shocked him however was the result of that summoning, which almost killed the boy only to end up becoming a girl however alien she appeared. That is not even considering the fact that Naruto mentioned that it was the Kyuubi no Youko that save him, even if only to save itself as far as Hiruzen knew. After a whole five minutes of shock-induced paralysis, Hiruzen sighed as he massaged his forehead and muttered, "Naruto, is there anything you might have left out?"

Thinking it over for a few moments, Naruto shook his head and said, "That's about it, Jiji." Naruto was pretty sure he told the old man everything as he even told him about his embarrassment of dressing the girl, who seemed completely oblivious to her own nudity, into some clothes as well as her shocking dislike for ramen. As the boy would put it, "She actually dislikes ramen! How much more alien can she get?"

Looking between the boy who was still dressed in the clothes he woke up in earlier that morning and the girl who was currently dressed in the cleanest clothes the boy could give to her, clothes which sadly tore due to her dorsal vents and tail, Hiruzen then asked, "I am assuming that the girl will not go about killing the people of this village anytime soon?"

Shaking his head, Naruto said, "She said she won't if she has no reason to." His expression then became apprehensive as he asked, "Say Jiji, why did the fox save me?"

Looking between the boy and the girl, who was responsible for revealing clues of the truth to him, Hiruzen sighed and explained, "Naruto, unlike what we have taught you in the academy, the Fourth Hokage could not slay the Kyuubi no Youko but only seal it away. On the day you were born, the same day the Kyuubi no Youko attacked Konohogakure eleven years ago, the Fourth Hokage sealed it into you in order to save the village at the cost of his own life to save the village."

Normally the revelation would have been a great shock to the boy but, considering what he had recently gone through and his ultimately correct suspicions concerning the demon fox, Naruto's reaction was less dramatic but no less hurt. His heart heavy with grief, the boy softly asked, "Am I… really a demon then?"

Hiruzen was about to speak to the boy when the girl suddenly spoke, "_No. Crimson One a parasite, like larva-me._"

Surprised by her apparent telepathic ability, although it did explain how Naruto was able to get information from her despite the boy mentioning about her near-inability to speak vocally, Hiruzen took the opportunity to explain, "While calling the Kyuubi a parasite is not completely wrong, it would be more accurate to call it a prisoner, with you as its living prison."

"So… will it die if I die?" Naruto had been curious why the fox would save him from certain death.

Shaking his head at Naruto's query, Hiruzen said, "While it is a possibility, it would be just be as likely that the Kyuubi will be freed if you perish, even if it is delayed by a number of years it requires to reform. However, given the circumstance, it seemed that the former outcome was rather likely if she had killed you as a parasite."

Accepting the old man's explanation, Naruto then asked, "What's going to happen to us now?"

"On the day I realized that you were the Kyuubi's vessel, I made a law to forbid any of the adults from letting either you or the younger generation know about the burden you bear. I also hoped that the village will see you as a hero for bearing that burden, which was also what your father hopes for. Alas, it was not to be as you of all people should know," Hiruzen said with a sigh. Naruto nodded in understanding as he knew what his life had been all too well. While never physically abused, much anyway, the boy had been the brunt of every mental and emotional form of abuse the villagers could think of. "As the nature of your burden is supposed to be the village's S-ranked secret, I would appreciate it if you do not speak of it with just anyone including your peers." Considering the danger of being treated as a social pariah by both the adults and his peers, even Naruto did not need much convincing. Turning his attention to the girl, Hiruzen said, "As for the girl… I'm honestly at a loss myself. As she is a blood-line human rather than her… original species, I cannot very well classify her as your pet."

"Why's is that a bad thing, Jiji?"

"Because I would have to tell of her existence to the council and, knowing them, they will most likely try to take her away from you for their own agenda."

Hiruzen would not have been surprised if Naruto angrily shouted in protest but neither of them expected the girl to suddenly release a powerful yet cold killing aura as she telepathically growled, "_I kill bad humans!_"

Almost frightened by the girl's uniquely terrible fury which seemed so cold that it actually burned, Hiruzen asked, "Bad humans?"

"_We kill for food, for hosts, to live. Bad humans hurt worse than kill for useless things they call pleasure, money and power. I kill them._"

Now understanding the reason of her fury, Hiruzen explained to her, "Which is why we must figure out a way to stop them from hurting you."

The girl's subtly furious expression changed into that of confusion as she asked, "_Why no kill them?_"

"Because that it not how we humans run things," was Hiruzen's patient reply.

"… _Humans odd…_"

Incredulous, Naruto asked, "Wait, so it's normal to kill your own kind?"

Nodding slightly, the girl explained, "_Killing different hive, normal. Bad humans like from different hive._"

Seeing the eerie parallels between her kind's mentality to that of humans, however vicious or alien they may be, Hiruzen said, "While I do agree with you that bad people and good people should never mix, human society unfortunately have both of types of people." Hiruzen then had an idea as he asked, "Tell me, did you take all of your human traits from the Naruto?"

"_Yes._"

"Then is it safe to say that you are his relative of sorts then?"

Realizing what Hiruzen was plotting, Naruto excitedly shouted, "Then you're like my sister, or cousin!"

Smiling, Hiruzen said, "While your relationship with Naruto will probably be a distant one, it should be enough for you to be registered as a member of his family which means that the council cannot legally claim you as theirs. Do you accept the offer?"

"… _Yes._"

Pleased, Hiruzen then said, "Good. Now, what do we call you… How about Uzumaki Hoyuki?"

Tilting her head, the girl curiously asked, "_Hoyuki?_" She understood the Uzumaki portion of her name as it was the same as that of Naruto's own full name.

"It means fire and snow, flaming snow."

Pondering over her name for a moment, the girl then nodded and said, "_Yes._"

Scene Change

True to Hiruzen's suspicions, once the council overcame their shock of Naruto actually being able to summon something which must have originated from beyond their world or even their universe, not to mention that the boy now knows of his burden, they quickly demanded for the girl like she was a prized possession. Hiruzen almost sighed at the predictability of some of the council members as the civilians demanded the girl to be handed over to Uchiha Sasuke, the last member of the famous Uchiha clan, as his wife while Danzo, a man who believes that true peace will only come to Konoha once it conquers all of the Elemental Nations as a single empire regardless of the costs, demanded the girl to be handed over to him to be trained as an "elite ninja". The Third Hokage secretly smirked as he explained that the girl is officially Naruto's sister due to the circumstances of her metamorphosis and that the boy happily took her in despite the fact that she almost killed him during her parasitic larval stage. The expressions on their faces as well as the "whiny bitching" they made only added to his satisfaction. "And I haven't even showed them her picture yet…" Hiruzen thought as he remembered why her face looked so familiar despite the decidedly alien coloration of her eyes and pale skin. He could only imagine the noise the council will make when they see her facial resemblance to the late Fourth Hokage…

Three months later…

Umino Iruka, a young man with brown hair tied into a spiky ponytail and a scar running across his nose, was busy calling out the names of the students in attendance for the first day of the new school year when he noticed something was odd about that day. It took him a few moments to realize why as he asked, "Where's Naruto?" While undisputedly a troublemaker who would skip boring classes, the boy would never deliberately skip school unless he was committing a grand prank. Like the time he somehow got a team of genin, the lowest-ranked ninja, to be covered from head to toe in chicken feathers.

Looking around, the students had no idea either and Iruka was about to start class when the ceiling above them suddenly rattled loudly as though something was in a hurry above them. Alarmed, Iruka quickly drew out his kunai in defence when a ceiling panel shifted followed by two figures dropping from the gap. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized one of them.

The red-haired girl, who was clothed in tattered rags and whom Iruka never saw before, was easily the strangest person he had ever seen. Black sclera, amber-yellow irises and cat-like pupils, the girl's eyes alone were alien in its strangeness. The four black dorsal vents protruding from her upper back, strange black chitin for skin on her forearms, lower legs and along her spine and a vertebrae-like tail with a bladed tip just made her even stranger in appearance. She also gave off a strange vibe which practically screamed "alien".

The boy on the other hand Iruka could easily recognize. Sun-blond hair, tanned skin, cerulean-blue eyes and two pairs of three whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks, the boy was none other than Naruto. What shocked Iruka was the boy's current state of dress as he was in similar rags as the girl. As far as Iruka knew, the boy never wore these kinds of clothes before and even that bright-orange jacket of his was more presentable no matter how ridiculous some found it.

Not aware or caring of Iruka's shock, Naruto cheerfully said, "Yo!"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: This is the Naruto series with a twist, Naruto gaining a Xenomorph-born sister of sorts. I have not really planned out the rest of the story though so I've yet to decide if I should include more Xenomorphs or even Yautjas into the story. Regardless, the girl will possess unique Xenomorph-based ninja techniques. I am also planning another series in which Naruto summons a certain demonic sword from a French animated series under the same circumstances. Hope you enjoyed this fanfiction!


	2. Chapter 1

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction. With that said, I hope you enjoy my literary contribution.

**Chapter 1: Introduction**

Gaping at the sight before him, Iruka asked, "N-Naruto?"

Grinning Naruto replied, "In the flesh, dattebayo."

Staring at the boy, Iruka asked, "What happened to your clothes?"

Obviously sheepish, Neruto explained, "Well… they all kind of got ruined and I had to make do with rags."

Nodding, the girl telepathically explained, "_Fight and hunt lots in forest._"

While Iruka was shocked at the girl's unusual method of talking, which the other children must have realized as well by their equally-shocked expressions, Naruto explained on her behalf, "What Hoyuki-chan meant to say was we spar a lot and do lots of survival training in the forests nearby."

Now understanding how Naruto's clothes could have gotten ruined, Iruka then asked, "And this is… Hoyuki?" He may had heard from the Third Hokage about receiving a new student bearing that very name but he was certain that the old man deliberately left out a number of details including the fact that she has a tail.

Naruto's grin widened as he replied, "She's my little sister!"

Everyone in the class other than the two Uzumakis gaped at Naruto's happy proclamation as they two could not possibly look more different. Inclined to believe the boy as he saw her surname in the class register Iruka asked, "As in your adopted little sister?"

Shrugging, Naruto admitted, "Kind of, but she's still family."

Satisfied with the explanation, for now, Iruka turned his attention to Hoyuki and said, "Would you mind introducing yourself to the class, Hoyuki?"

Nodding, the girl turned around to face the class and introduced herself, "_Name, Uzumaki Hoyuki. Like, eating meat and sweet food, hunting, fighting and cuddling. Hate, bitter food, cold and bad humans. Hope, have a big family._"

Staring at the girl, the students were at a loss until a pale-blond girl with light-blue eyes named Yamanaka Ino asked, "Just… how did you meet that Naruto-baka?"

Hoyuki's usually neutral-blank expression changed into a slight frown as she replied, "_He brought me. Almost killed him. Became his sister._" The silence that followed was oppressive as they tried to understand what the strange girl had just said. Many of the students agreed one thing though, "Okay… definitely freaky!"

Unperturbed by the freaked-out children, Hoyuki turned her attention to Iruka and asked, "_Sufficient?_"

While a little disturbed himself, Iruka had enough faith in both Naruto and the Third Hokage that the girl was not a threat to anyone, at least for the moment. "Yeah, you both may take a seat."

Bowling slightly, the girl then followed Naruto until the both of them were seated. However, due to her tail, the girl opted to instead simply squat beside the blond who was sitting at the edge of a bench, using her tail as a prop to support her. Worried, Iruka asked, "Do you need a stool, Hoyuki?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained, "_Often._"

Confused, Iruka turned his attention to Naruto who explained, "She does this all the time and it never bothers her."

Iruka sounded dubious as he replied, "Right, now then, before we start our class…"

Scene Change

"So, what do you think about that new girl?"

Turning her attention to Ino, a pink-haired girl with green eyes and a prominent forehead named Haruno Sakura replied, "What girl is definitely odd." Her paradoxically silent inner persona on the other hand shouted, "She's a super creepy-freak! How can she squat like that for the whole class?"

Nodding in agreement, Ino glanced at the two and asked, "Do you really think that Naruto took her in as his little sister even though she almost killed him?"

"No idea but some of the boys seem to like her looks at least for some odd reason." Neither Sakura nor Ino realized that the more "observant" boys liked what little they saw beneath Hoyuki's rags, especially her posterior. The fact that she wore nothing under the rags must have something to do with it.

"Yeah, I bet Kiba would be drooling over her like a horny dog if he and Akamaru weren't so scared of her. Hell, even Shino seems nervous."

Incredulous, Sakura asked, "Wait, Kiba and SHINO scared? Sure she's creepy but what can be so bad about her?"

"I don't know but if Shino of all people feels nervous about her, we should be careful too." Ino barely held in her grimace as she added, "I mean, she speaks with her _mind_ of all things, even my clan can't do that so naturally!"

While the two girls, who were also rivals for a certain boy they and many other girls like named Uchiha Sasuke, continued their discussion about the newcomer, a chubby boy with brown hair and a swirl on each cheek named Akamichi Chouji was busy munching on potato chips while asking, "Hey, Shikamaru, what do you think about the girl?"

Peering at the girl, a lazy-looking boy with his hair tied into a spiky ponytail on top of his head named Nara Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome. She speaks with her _mind_, has a tail and outright admitted she tried killing Naruto of all people at least once. I don't even want to know what convinced him to take her in as his little sister."

As the two boys talked about the girl, a wild-looking boy with untidy brown hair and a pair of red fang-like marking on his cheeks glared at the girl in both fear and disgust as she simply smelled wrong, as though she did not belong to this world. Named Inuzuka Kiba, the boy muttered to his pet puppy, Akamaru, which was lying on top of his head as usual, "Keep a close nose on her buddy, that girl is dangerous!" Akamaru whined in agreement.

Another boy, with curly brown hair, pale skin and wearing a pair of sunglasses as well as a high-collared coat, shared similar sentiments with the wild boy. Named Aburame Shino, the boy felt his insides literally crawling in distress whenever he paid attention to Hoyuki. Adjusting his sunglasses, the boy silently thought, "That girl… is even more alien that she looks."

Glaring at the two Uzumakis was a boy with dark hair and eyes as well as a face which many of the girls found handsome which seemed enhanced by his brooding expression. Known as Uchiha Sasuke, the last member of the Uchiha clan and the current number one rookie of the year, the boy was unsurprisingly a fan-favourite among the girls. Focusing his attention on the girl, Sasuke mused, "So the dobe got himself a sister, doesn't make him any less pathetic and she must be useless herself if she can't even kill him." Having come to that conclusion, he quickly dismissed the two of them.

Out of the entire class, only a few people were actually concerned for Naruto although Hoyuki's currently benign interactions with him eased them somewhat. One of them was a shy dark-haired girl with pale-lavender eyes that lacked pupils named Hyuuga Hinata. Smiling shyly at the blond boy who seemed so bright with happiness even with his admittedly poor state of dress, Hinata thought, "I'm glad that Naruto-kun's little sister seems like a nice person, although I'm worried about why she almost killed him at first."

Oblivious to the rest of the class, both Naruto and Hoyuki studied their lessons as though everything was normal…

Scene Change

After attending their first lesson, the boys were sent to taijutsu class, a class which teaches physical martial arts, while the girls were sent to flower-arranging class. Hoyuki was unsurprisingly confused by the class as she deemed it seemed completely useless as far as she understood. "_Why arrange flowers? Pretty won't kill prey or foe._"

Suzume, a young woman with surly black hair, wears makeup including red lipstick and a pair of oval spectacles, was annoyed at the apparently clueless girl as she explained, "That's because it is a vital lesson which teaches kunoichi the importance of elegance and beauty during infiltration missions."

"_But it won't kill._"

Huffing haughtily, Suzume replied, "Of course not! What sort of barbaric backwater place did you come from anyway?"

"_From the dark, beyond the stars,_" answered Hoyuki as though it was though it was a naturally obvious answer.

Everyone in the class blinked at the girl, before Ino hesitantly asked, "Um… Are you… an alien?" While feeling silly for asking that question, Ino just had to know.

Nodding, which shocked everyone, Hoyuki explained, "_Parasite, from beyond. Naruto called me. Hurt him but not kill. Became his sister. No longer alien._"

"… Okay… that explains a LOT about you," said Ino as she nervously stepped back away from Hoyuki. Many of the girls and even Suzume backed away from her.

"Did you just hear what she said?"

"That girl's a freak!"

"No way she's no longer alien, just look at her!"

"And that dead-last idiot actually took her in? Goes to show how stupid he really is!"

While not surprised by their reactions, her parent-species had killed enough humans to warrant such prejudices, Hoyuki nevertheless felt annoyed especially at the insults aimed at Naruto as she turned her attention to Suzume and asked, "_Where taijutsu?_"

Scene Change

Naruto was standing before Sasuke and was grinning as he asked, "Ready to be used to wipe the floor, teme?"

Snorting derisively, Sasuke replied, "Like you will ever be more than a useless dead-last, dobe."

The taijutsu teacher, a silver-haired man named Mizuki, was about to start the match between the two boys when he caught sight of something which mad him say, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in the other class?"

All the boys turned their attention to see Hoyuki who was approaching them. Naruto, who knew her quirks and beliefs, sighed and asked, "You didn't like the flower arrangement class, did you?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki replied, "_No, useless. Flower Teacher and girls foolish. Pretty no kill anything._"

While the other boys were disturbed by her statement, Naruto smiled and asked, "So you want to join us then?"

Nodding, Hoyuki explained, "_Yes. Taijutsu teach fight and kill._"

"Why is that freak always talking about killing?" asked a nervous boy who wore a beanie named Hibachi.

Naruto at least had the decency to appear sheepish as he explained, "That's because it's all what her kind used to do before she became my sister. They can't even make babies without killing something outside their hive."

While Hibachi, and many other boys, paled at the statement, Shino asked, "Wait, you mentioned hive?"

"Yeah, think of her kind like wasps that lays eggs in caterpillars but living like ants."

Shino actually gasped as he took a step back and spoke as he trembled, "A species of eusocial parasitoids…" Seeing Shino actually visibly terrified disturbed even Mizuki.

Curious, both Naruto tilted his head and asked, "Eusocial parasitoids?"

Nervously adjusting his glasses, Shino explained, "Among insects, to be classified as eusocial means that the insect live in hives or colonies which usually number by the thousands led by a single egg-laying queen. To be classified as parasitoids means that the insect lays eggs into a host for its young to feed and grow from within, killing the host in the process. To be classified as both…" Not even Naruto could deny the horrific implications.

Before the boys could panic, Hoyuki calmly spoke, "_Correct. But no longer. Human._"

Assuming a defensive stance, Shino cautiously asked, "How so? It is illogical for a species of parasitoids to become like their hosts."

"_My kind can._"

Before anyone could argue against her point, images of horrific alien creatures with elongated heads lacking ears, noses or eyes, four dorsal vents on their upper backs, a vertebrae-like tail with a bladed tip and strange chitin for skin appeared in their minds. They then saw variations of the same creature including horns for ramming, wings for flight and even fins for swimming. One variation in particular stood out as it showed both the host and the resulting creature as it bore mandibles and deadlocks like its already dangerously intimidating host. After seeing the images, the entire taijutsu class except Naruto stared at the girl as she explained, "_I changed. More than any._"

Still suspicious, Shino asked, "Why?"

"_A deal. A promise._"

Blinking, Shino's eyebrows rose above his sunglasses as he asked, "Deal?"

"_S-ranked._"

While not liking the lack of details, Shino and a few of the boys, including Shikamaru, decided to trust her for now. After all, there is no way the Third Hokage will allow her to be free as Naruto's sister if he had deemed her as a threat.

Seeing that a few of the boys have relaxed somewhat, the girl then asked, "_Join?_"

Grinning, Naruto said, "Sure you can! Heck, you can even take my place!"

Seeing the blond boy's action as an act of cowardice, Sasuke snorted, "Are you letting her fight in your place, you're even more pathetic than I thought, dobe."

The proud boy did not expect Naruto's reaction as he grinned and replied, "Nah, I'm just letting her have some fun." Skipping out of the ring, Naruto said, "Have fun, Hoyuki-chan." As soon as Naruto finished speaking, Hoyuki suddenly appeared before Sasuke.

Shocked by her sudden appearance, Sasuke glared at both Naruto and her before saying, "I will show no mercy, not even to a girl."

Hoyuki's crouched low with her clawed hands and tail ready to strike as she replied, vocally with a notable rasp in her voice, "No mercy!" Those that found her telepathy disturbing were correcting themselves as they realized that her verbal voice was even worse as it chilled their spines.

Quickly assuming a taijutsu stance, partly out of fear at the obviously alien girl which he would never willingly admit, Sasuke appeared ready for the match. Seeing that neither combatant were willing to back down, Mizuki sighed and said, "Alright, match start!"

As soon as Mizuki announced the start of the match, Sasuke charged at the girl only to be tackled down by her as she bent low and slammed her elbow against his stomach at a speed he could barely follow. Feeling the wind flee from his lungs, Sasuke was unable to even catch his breath as he suddenly felt her hand grip his throat while the tip of her tail hovered over his eye. Staring at the girl, Sasuke could not believe he had lost. "She's just that dobe's sister. How…?"

Naruto, the only one who was not alarmed by her actions, cheered for her, "Alright, Hoyuki-chan one, Sasuke-teme ZERO!"

Barely restraining his rage, Sasuke growled, "If you're so great, why don't you fight her, dobe?"

Placing his hands behind his head, Naruto grinned and said, "Sure, it'd be like all the sparing we already had…" Naruto frowned as he added, "…which ruined my favourite jumpsuit."

Hoyuki seemed almost sheepish as she let go of Sasuke and replied, "_Sorry._"

"Nah, it's ok! Besides, these rags don't look too bad either once you get used to them."

With Sasuke out of the ring, as the bitter loser of the fight, both Naruto and Hoyuki faced one another. Grinning, Naruto assumed a similar fighting stance as Hoyuki and asked, "Ready, Hoyuki-chan?"

It was at that moment Hoyuki wore a small smile which made her actually look cute before she replied, "_Always, brother._"

"Match, start!"

Hearing Mizuki's shout, both combatants charged at one another at the same time, clashing as Naruto's right hand intercepted her right elbow. Her tail then struck, almost striking the jugular as Naruto barely dodged it. The blond boy then threw an uppercut at her chin with his left hand only for the girl to suddenly flip, her tail lashing out thus cutting his cheek. Ignoring the pain of his two bleeding wounds, Naruto grinned as the girl as she landed back onto her feet. "That tail of yours is a real pain the ass, Hoyuki-chan."

Smiling, Hoyuki replied, "_You heal faster._" True to her word, Naruto's wounds started to heal and seemed to be actually smoking as the wounds closed.

Shocked by Naruto's ability and the fact that he could actually keep up with her despite the apparently unfair advantage her tail provided, the boys were at a loss for words when the two clashed again, leaving viciously bloody claw marks on the both of them as they exchanged blows. However both ignored their injuries which were already starting to heal, albeit at a slower rate of Hoyuki, as the boy leapt into the air and attempted to drive his heel into her shoulder only to have her suddenly turn around and use her tail strike at him again, sending him flying. Feeling winded by the blow, Naruto quickly flipped in the air and landed on his feet just as Hoyuki attempted to tear at him with her claws. Grabbing hold onto her clawed hands and ignoring the pair as they dug into his hands, Naruto allowed her to push him down before slamming his knee into her stomach, causing the girl to cry out in pain as her grip onto his hands loosened. Naruto then delivered a resounding slam at her forehead with his own forehead, dazing her. Letting the dazed girl fall off him, Naruto sighed and said, "That went better than expected…" The boy's words died in his mouth as he stared at the pointed tip of Hoyuki's tail pointing at his neck. Scowling, Naruto muttered, "You always beat me at taijutsu."

Hoyuki's small smile was almost impish as she replied, "_Respect tail._"

Naruto's scowl became a little petulant as he pushed the tail away and said, "Yeah, yeah." Neither combatants noticed the dumbstruck stared the others were giving them as they saw the fight not as a spar but as a bloody duel between savages.

"Did you see the way she uses that tail?"

"How can they heal so fast?"

"It could have been a bloody slaughter!"

"Those two are even more troublesome than they look…" muttered Shikamaru.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino mused, "Interesting, that girl seems to rely on her tail like a scorpion."

"And people call me wild…" Akamaru barked in agreement with Kiba.

Looking at the pair in disbelief, Sasuke whispered, "That girl is strong… interesting." Needless to say the boy now saw her as a worthy rival to test his limits, which would unfortunately make her even more infamous to the fangirls. That said the one-sided rivalry between the fangirls with Hoyuki had an unexpected but unsurprising benefit which would be told at a later date.

Mizuki was glaring at the two in displeasure as he silently thought, "I shouldn't have expected anything different from the demon brat and his sister…" Raising his hand, Mizuki declared, "Winner, Uzumaki Hoyuki!"

Scene Change

Ichiraku Ramen, a humble ramen stand infamous for being the regular haunt of Uzumaki Naruto. Despite the infamy neither owners of the stand, Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame, ever regretted helping the boy back then when he was still a small hungry child. Left unsaid was that the boy's appetite and apparent addiction to ramen alone helped keep their business afloat, more so than even the Akamichi boy who would occasionally join him for some ramen. Presently sitting at the stand were Naruto, the strange girl who had become his sister roughly three months ago and Umino Iruka.

Looking at the boy who was happily slurping noodles at a rate which could rival even an Akamichi, a clan well known for their appetites, Iruka could not believe that Hoyuki was somehow able to convince Naruto NOT to make her eat ramen. To be fair, it was not for the lack of trying as Naruto did try to convince her until he realized she was just as stubborn about her love for meat and sweet food, especially fruits and honey. As such, the girl was calmly eating some sweet bean soup offered by the shop, after ravenously devouring what appeared to be a pig's entire leg which was roasted with a glaze of honey. Iruka did not even want to know where or how she got that leg much less keep it on her person.

"So your sister is actually some sort of alien from beyond this world, turned you into her host and would have killed you had it not been for your "special" chakra which also made her into a bloodline-limit human instead of her original species."

Swallowing another large mouthful of ramen, Naruto nodded and replied, "Yep, that's about it!" The only reason why Teuchi and Ayame were not shocked was because they already heard the story.

Rubbing his temples, Iruka muttered, "Naruto, you are without a doubt the most unpredictable kid I've ever known." He then wore a stern expression as he added, "And one of the most idiotic, that summoning seal could have easily been an explosive seal or brought something which could have killed you for real!"

Knowing that Iruka was right, Naruto admitted, "I get that from Jiji too. But how was I supposed to know better?"

"You could have asked me or Hokage-sama."

"And both of you would have said no!"

Seeing Naruto's point, however childish it was, Iruka sighed and had to admit that the desperately lonely boy would have tried summoning anyway to get himself a friend somehow. "That still does not excuse your foolishness. You could have brought harm not just to yourself but to the entire village as well. Imagine what would have happened if Hoyuki decided to remain as her original species, no offense meant by the way."

Shaking her head, Hoyuki replied, "_None, truth._"

Sighing, Naruto said, "Yeah, I got the picture."

"Good. That aside, I'm glad that things turned out for the better for you." Iruka's smile broadened into a grin as he added, "I wasn't there to see it but I heard you two had quite a spar."

Naruto's mood improved instantly as he passionately told Iruka about the spars and survival training he and Hoyuki did over the past three months. Hearing the boy's story and looking at the girl who was contently listening to it, as well as interject whenever Naruto was exaggerating or trying to hide embarrassing details, Iruka smiled and thought, "This will be an interesting year alright…"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: As cliché as it may be, this will probably be a Naru-Hina story as I doubt Sakura will ever really choose him (plus, I always find the pairing cute). Naru-Ino on the other hand "might" be possible on the grounds that Ino may try to look into Hoyuki's memories and end up seeing Naruto's as well (seeing his life experiences will change almost anyone's opinion about him, although the fact that both Hoyuki and Naruto already know about the Kyuubi will make the pairing complicated). Naruto WILL NOT be paired with Hoyuki as he sees her as a sister or cousin and the feeling is mutual. I "may" pair Hoyuki with Sasuke but I'm as likely to pair her with a different male character which I like more (either Shino or Chouji although I have to admit I made her seem unapproachable to them).


	3. Chapter 2

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction. With that said, I hope you enjoy my literary contribution.

**Chapter 2: Fangirls, Rivals and Friends**

Almost a week had passed ever since the start of the school wear and already Hoyuki is almost as infamous as Naruto. While the girl would not cause trouble on her own, she would often join Naruto in his pranking misadventures and was drawing the ire of the fangirls due to Sasuke actually being interested in her, a fact which often left Naruto feeling comically ill at the implications. What was more, she was not afraid to admit her alien origins or the atrocities her parent-species is capable off thus putting off even the civilians that initially wanted to offer her to the last Uchiha either in a foolish attempt to appease him as though he is the god or out of spite towards Naruto by denying him of his sister. As such, the girl was almost as badly hated by the majority of the village's populace as Naruto. Nevertheless, the girl paid little heed to the hatred towards her as she and Naruto continued to support one another as family…

Scene Change

Naruto was being held back in the ninja academy for remedial lessons by Iruka, again, while Hoyuki, who is startlingly intelligent despite her formerly undereducated state, was simply dozing off on a tree branch. While she could be using her time to do something more productive, such as hunting for more meat, Hoyuki could not resist the temptation to simply laze after having put up with the apparently insane fangirls for most of the week.

It all started on the second day of school when the fangirls, led by Ino and Sakura, realized that she actually beat their "Sasuke-kun" during taijutsu class on the previous day. Before realizing that fact, the girls were willing to leave Hoyuki alone while insulting her as a freakish monster from a safe distance or position. However, there was no way the girls could possibly leave her alone after "harming" Sasuke thus the inevitable confrontation…

Flashback

"How dare you hurt Sasuke-kun!" shouted an irrational Sakura at Hoyuki who was actually blinking in confusion before tilting her head and asked, "_What?_" Left unsaid by the pink-haired girl was that Sasuke was actually paying attention to Hoyuki despite, or in reality because of, the fact that she actually beat him in taijutsu.

"You heard her, how could you hurt our Sasuke-kun!"

Now feeling thoroughly confused, as she clearly remembered that she did not inflict any lasting injury to the boy, such as gouging out his eyes, tearing our his guts or ripping off his limbs, Hoyuki asked, "_How?_"

Clearly frustrated by the seemingly oblivious girl, Ino shouted, "What do you mean how? You actually beat him, what else!"

Hoyuki was certain she was going to get a headache as she frowned slightly and spoke, "_But taijutsu._"

Ignoring logic in favour of illogical fangirl-worship towards the last Uchiha, Sakura screeched, "We don't care! No one beats our Sasuke-kun and that's final! Not you and definitely not that stupid loser brother of yours, you damned freak!" The other girls cheered in agreement with her.

None of the fangirls or even Hoyuki realized that Naruto was within earshot to Sakura's admittedly loud screeching when she called Hoyuki a freak. While the boy would normally be fine with any abuse the girl he has a crush on could throw at him, the same cannot be said about her hurting his friends or family. As such, Naruto was feeling more hurt because of her than he had ever felt as he thought, "Was I really trying to date her?" Forced to see just how much of a blind fangirl Sakura really was, Naruto decided to end any attempt to be her boyfriend thus ending a relationship which never had the chance to even start. "I'll never date a girl who hates my family."

Naruto's hurt feelings did not go unnoticed as Hoyuki felt them through their uniquely twisted sibling bond, a bond which will be explained at a later time. Looking at where Naruto was hiding, Hoyuki felt great sympathy for the boy before her eyes narrowed at Sakura, the girl who has done nothing but hurt her brother, out of petty spite of all things. True, Naruto had been persistent for Sakura's affections to the point that most people would get tired of even trying to be civil with him, but her shallow-minded fangirl nature made any of her Sasuke-related spite towards her and especially her brother illogical and unjustified. Hoyuki had the unpleasantly justified feeling that if Naruto could actually defeat Sasuke, the girl would only end up hating him more thus hurting his feelings even further in the process. Besides, she doubted any affection Sakura expresses towards Naruto will be true even in the off-chance that he actually gains her positive attention after defeating the last Uchiha. As such, she did not bother to fully restrain her temper as she vocally growled, "Call me freak, alien, monster, demon. But never call my brother loser!" Combined with her chilling murderous aura, the girl's countenance could actually impress the deadly predators that hunted her kind on a regular basis.

Unused to facing any actual killing intent, many of the fangirls fell to their knees from the terrible chilling aura Hoyuki created. Sakura, who was the target Hoyuki's anger, could swear she saw a shadow of a nightmarish creature with a crown-like crested head taking form behind the tailed girl, showing pearl-white fangs as it growled at her. Shivering in fear, the pink-haired girl felt her heart literally freeze out of sheer terror as Hoyuki continued to verbally speak, "My brother, not strongest, but never weak!" As suddenly as the terrible aura appeared it disappeared without a trace. Still glaring at the girls, Hoyuki then turned around and said, "_Fangirls, pathetic._"

After the tailed girl left, the girls started breathing normally again before they realized two things. The first is that the girl is not just a freak but, in their opinion, a dangerously heartless monster while the second is that they have absolutely no chance to beat her as they are even if they work together as a mob. It was therefore a turning point for many of the girls as they realized that only by becoming stronger or craftier can they can actually hope to "get even" with her. While certainly not the most inspiring way to become more competent as ninjas, it had the surprisingly desired effect on the girls nonetheless.

End Flashback

Hoyuki had to restrain a sigh as she recalled what the girls had been doing ever since that confrontation. While some had started to train more seriously in the hopes of defeating her, which she personally did not mind even after noticing, others have been more insidious such as spreading slanderous rumours or leaving hurtful letters for both her and her brother. A particularly bad incident involved a group led by a purple-haired girl named Ami spreading rumours that Naruto must be a monster too, such as the Kyuubi no Youko, for liking Hoyuki. While Naruto was felt deeply hurt and afraid while Hoyuki was tempted to at least scalp her, the girl was apprehended by ANBU due to the S-ranked nature of the rumours. After a brief "visit" to a certain scarred leader of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Unit, the girl never again dared to spread the rumours which eventually died down on their own among the younger generation.

Another incident involved Sakura trying to trap Hoyuki in a genjutsu to humiliate her by making her walk into a trap. However, due to her less than human origins, Hoyuki quickly realized the deception and later gave Sakura a thorough smacking around despite the genjutsu as only her eyes were affected by it thus leaving her other keen senses to function normally. Considering that her original species never had eyes, at least of the visible sort, and could function perfectly fine even in near total darkness, Hoyuki's victory was not all that unexpected. That said, Hoyuki still could not understand why Sakura was making such a big fuss about her ruined hair as it was not only a temporary form of physical damage but one that does not even hurt.

Ino also tried to humiliate Hoyuki by using her family's mind-transfer technique to take control of her body. However, Ino quickly realized to her shock that Hoyuki somehow had some degree of resistance to it as her tail actually stabbed her own hand, causing Ino to let go of her control over her due to the painful injury she received as a consequence of using her mind to invade Hoyuki's body. While Hoyuki quickly healed, it took days for Ino's injury to finally fully heal.

Adding fire to the burning hatred the fangirls had towards her, Sasuke actually had an interest in her if only because she was strong and was apparently the reason why Naruto became stronger as well. While she did not have a personal grudge for the boy, unlike many of the fangirls, she was not interested in helping him become stronger after realizing what he would do with his strength…

Flashback

"_Kill "a certain man"?_" asked a confused Hoyuki. "_Why?_"

"It's none of your business."

"_But kill, without purpose, is wrong._"

Annoyed by Hoyuki's unexpected reluctance to help him become stronger by sparring with her, Sasuke said, "Well, is vengeance enough reason for you?"

Tilting her head, Hoyuki asked, "_Vengeance?_"

Shocked that the girl, who apparently originated from an entire species of murderous monsters, could actually be ignorant of the idea of vengeance, Sasuke had to ask, "You honestly don't know?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained, "_Kill to eat, to breed, to protect, to survive, nothing more._"

"Then what do you do when someone kills your family, your hive?"

"_We flee, hide, spread out, moult, breed, rebuild, thrive,_" explained Hoyuki as though it was perfect common sense. Considering her original species, it was to her.

Realizing that he was not going to convince the girl to help him get stronger, at least not without risking compromising his own beliefs, Sasuke left in frustration while muttering, "Damned weirdo…"

Scene Change

On the following day, Sasuke decided to ask her again, with the same level of success. However, the boy was prepared to at least try to bring himself to her level of thinking as he asked, "You said you have no idea what vengeance is, correct?" Seeing the girl nod, Sasuke then asked, "What would you do if someone decided to hurt Naruto?"

The reaction was immediate as Hoyuki verbally growled, "I hurt them."

Chilled by her uniquely cold brand of anger, however mild it was, Sasuke knew that she was the perfect rival for him as he explained, "That, is vengeance."

Blinking in surprise, Hoyuki asked, "_Greater rage vengeance?_"

Hiding a smirk beneath a nonchalant façade, Sasuke replied, "In a manner of speaking." It was at that moment when Hoyuki wore a slightly upset expression, which was the last thing Sasuke expected to see. Confused by her reaction, Sasuke asked, "What?"

"_I… do not want it._"

"What? Why?" As far as Sasuke knew, vengeance is as good a reason to continue living as any other reason.

Shaking her head, Hoyuki asked, "_Vengeance is killing another for killing, correct?_" Initially confused by her odd question, Sasuke quickly understood that she actually meant to ask if vengeance is killing someone for the sake of killing that person. Nodding, Sasuke knew that he was not going to like what he will hear as Hoyuki explained, "_Vengeance, madness. Kills for no greater purpose._"

Angry that Hoyuki was rejecting his beliefs, Sasuke shouted, "Vengeance IS a purpose!"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki asked, "_How many?_"

"What?"

"_How many kill, for vengeance?_" While Sasuke did indeed live for vengeance due to his personal circumstances, he could not deny the terrible implications her question brought up, as he has yet to actually kill anyone himself, as she continued to speak, "_Vengeance will not create hive, family. Live for vengeance is live for death, including avenger, after killing many to kill._"

"…Then you will not help be become stronger?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki said, "_I want to kill to live, live to love. Like my brother._"

"…Fine…!"

Scowling, Sasuke was about to storm off to train by himself when Hoyuki said, "_Brother hated by all, hurt, alone. Could be avenger killing all but chose life, chose love._"

Hearing her speak about Naruto, Sasuke unwillingly paused for a moment to consider her words before choosing to ignore it as he could never imagine Naruto becoming an avenger even if his life depended on it. Still, he could not help but wonder, "Hated by all, that dobe?"

End Flashback

Sighing, Hoyuki wondered what was taking her brother so long when she noticed someone watching from the shadows. Looking lazily at a nearby tree, she noticed a dark-haired shy girl with pupil-less pale-lavender eyes peeking at her before quickly retreating. Out of the many girls in the class, that odd shy girl was the only one she has nothing against. Ever since the first day of class, the girl had been looking at both her and Naruto, with special emphasis of the blond boy. At first, Hoyuki simply thought that the girl was staring at them simply because they were odd. However, as time passed, she came to realize that the girl was looking at them for a different reason, one which she is now curious enough to find out.

Hinata was doing her best to hide her presence when Hoyuki suddenly appeared upside down from a branch, looking at her curiously. Yelping in fright, Hinata landed on her backside and was leaning against the tree when Hoyuki asked, "_Why?_"

"Huh?"

"_Why look at me and brother?_"

Able to realize that Hoyuki was not accusing her and was simply being curious, Hinata did not feel threatened or upset as she shyly lied, "Um… n-no reason."

Seeing Hinata's obviously poor attempt at lying, Hoyuki deadpanned, "_Lying, bad._"

Wondering if Hoyuki was scolding her for lying or was criticising her poor attempt to deceive her or both, Hinata replied, "S-sorry."

"_It's ok, you no fangirl._"

Hinata felt her heart skip a beat as, contrary to what Hoyuki believes, she is something similar but uniquely different from a typical fangirl. Blushing, Hinata wondered what she should do to get away from the awkward situation before it goes further out of control when Hoyuki landed on all fours like a cat and drew herself close to her. Nervous, Hinata wondered what Hoyuki was going to do with her when the girl sniffed her hair and said, "…_Smell nice, like flowers…_"

Surprised, Hinata dared to ask, "You… like flowers?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied, "_Flowers useless in killing, but nice to smell and for sleep._" The tailed girl then wore a mildly disgusted expression as she added, "_But not like strong smell, even flower-smell._" The memory of smelling ridiculously strong perfumes which some of the fangirls wore to woo Sasuke made her stomach churn. Hinata's pleasantly gentle lavender scent on the other hand made her appealing to her, as a hugging-pillow for cuddling.

Hoyuki's interest in flowers, if only for olfactory pleasure, was a pleasant surprise for Hinata as she always thought the girl had no interest to them due to her dislike for flower arrangement classes. Having a hobby of flower-pressing herself, Hoyuki's interest in nice-smelling flowers made Hinata think of her as less alien and more human somehow. "W-would you like to know the name of the flower?" Seeing Hoyuki nod, Hinata then answered, "It is lavender."

Thus began an odd friendship between Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Hoyuki, a friendship which will one day turn them into sisters-in-laws…

Scene Change

Dragging himself out of the academy, Naruto was cursing rather colourfully at the torture Iruka put him through due to his poor academics despite his increased abilities in taijutsu when he saw Hoyuki dragging someone towards him. Not expecting anyone to even let her touch them, much less let her drag them around like an eager young girl, Naruto blinked in surprise before he recognized the blushing girl Hoyuki was dragging along and asked, "Hinata?"

Hyuuga Hinata, the only girl in the entire classroom to ever like Naruto due to finding inspiration from his optimistic and persistent nature, was torn between wanting to flee for her life and finally confessing her admiration towards him. Of course, with Hoyuki's gentle but powerfully firm grip, Hinata realized that a quick escape was impossible as she got ever closer to the boy she likes. The poor girl was certain her face was ablaze as she meekly looked at the ground while Naruto asked Hoyuki, "Hoyuki-chan, why are you dragging Hinata around?"

Smiling brightly, which Naruto found amazing due to how rarely she actually smiled that way, Hoyuki happily said, "_Found friend!_"

Looking between Hoyuki and Hinata, Naruto then wore a grin and said, "That's great, Hoyuki-chan!" Turning his attention to Hinata, Naruto smiled and said, "Thank you."

Surprised at seeing one of his rare honest smiles, which have become more often of late, Hinata nervously asked, "F-f-for what, N-Naruto-kun?"

"For being Hoyuki's friend, what else?" replied the happy blond.

Realizing that the boy was actually appreciating her, if only because she was his sister's friend, Hinata felt her heart swell with joy as she shyly replied, "Y-your welcome, Naruto-kun."

Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growled loudly. While a little embarrassed, Naruto was nevertheless grinning as he asked, "Say, want to come with us and have something to eat?"

Hearing Naruto's offer after hearing his appreciation towards her, Hinata finally found the courage to speak out her mind as she replied, "Y-yes!"

Scene Change

Hinata was staring at Hoyuki in mild amazement at the fact that she actually lacked Naruto's love for ramen as she greedily gorged herself on a generously large piece of pork ribs, which she claimed was her favourite part of wild boar meat. How the girl managed to keep something like that on her person without anyone noticing was anyone's guess. She was sure that Kiba and Chouji should have at least noticed the admittedly delicious smell.

Eating her noodles as a dainty pace, Hinata then turned her attention to Naruto who was happily slurping his noodles as easily as breathing air. Not shocked by his gluttonous appetite, as she had already known about if from her years of watching him, Hinata wondered what she could talk about with the boy.

As fate would have it, Naruto paused long enough between loud slurps when he asked, "Say, Hinata, how did you and Hoyuki-chan become friends anyway?"

Looking at Hoyuki, who was allowing her to speak, Hinata gathered her courage before hesitantly explaining, "I-I met Hoyuki-san w-while she was dozing off. She… liked the smell of lavender on me and I-I realized she liked flowers too."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto grinned and said, "Yeah, she always liked to sleep on flowers and hug something in her sleep." Hoyuki was actually blushing mildly, which Ayame found almost irresistibly cute, as Naruto continued to speak, "So you two talked about flowers then?"

Hinata was tapping her fingers nervously as she shyly replied, "Y-yes, mostly."

"…_You like brother, don't you?_"

Naruto almost chocked on his noodles while Hinata squealed in fright before the dark-haired girl asked, "H-h-h-h-how did you know?" She was certain she never told Hoyuki anything which implied that fact.

"_Obvious._"

Swallowing his noodles with great effort, Naruto stared at Hinata in flabbergasted shock as Hoyuki explained, "_You always look at us. Not with hate, disdain or fear but something else. Took a while to realize you look at brother in affection._" Hoyuki's smile was impish as she added, "_I approve._"

Embarrassed beyond words, Hinata turned her attention towards the gobsmacked Naruto before she fainted. A moment later, Naruto fainted as well due to the shock of the revelation which Hoyuki found immensely amusing. Looking at the two fainted children, Teuchi asked, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"_Hinata, lonely like brother. She likes him, he wants affection. Logical and amusing to get them together,_" was Hoyuki's reply.

Both Teuchi and Ayame snickered in agreement with Hoyuki as all three hoped that it would mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship, romance even, between the two lonely children…

The following school day…

Iruka found the atmosphere of the classroom interesting to say the least. The majority of the girls were dumbstruck to the point of gaping like a school of beached fishes while many of the boys were staring to the point the young teacher could almost swear that their eyes could roll out of their sockets at any moment. The focus of their attention was a trio consisting of Naruto, Hoyuki and a terribly embarrassed Hinata. What truly surprised everyone was that the pair not only greeted the Hyuuga girl in a friendly manner but actually wanted to take a seat with her. Seeing Hoyuki giving Hinata an affectionate hug was shocking enough a sight to actually cause the brains of many of the students to almost literally shut down temporarily as if to avoid becoming mad from the revelation. The shock was so bad that Shino's sunglasses actually fell off his face while Chouji's bag of chips fell off his suddenly slack hands and Sasuke was actually comically gaping.

As one of the few people who actually care for the boy, Iruka was glad that Naruto finally managed to get over Sakura and move on. While Sakura was indeed confident, pretty and smart, Iruka could not help but wonder if Naruto had a masochistic streak as he continued to pursue for her affections only to receive nothing but painfully brutal refusals. Granted, Sakura did initially try to be civil with him until his persistence wore off her patience and that her lack of civility to him became an ingrained habit. It certainly did not help that her parents, especially her mother, actually encouraged that behaviour. As stubborn as Naruto was, the boy refused to give up on gaining Sakura's affections until he realized that the pink-haired girl hated Hoyuki for daring to beat Sasuke in taijutsu.

Looking at the three, Iruka smiled as he felt that the budding relationship between the boy and Hinata may have the potential to become more than simple friendship should fate be willing. Then again, knowing the boy, Naruto would still strive for a future with Hinata if he truly does love her, even if it means opposing the entire Ninja World by himself. Turning his attention to Hoyuki, Iruka knew that Naruto's sister loved him dearly despite their unsettling first encounter and that she would always stand by his side, something which Hyuuga Hinata would likely do as well.

Deciding that the children's brains had enough time to properly reboot, Iruka coughed to get their attention and said, "Alright, pay attention, everyone!"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Thus begins the Naru-Hina pairing which I like even though it is so common and cliché a fan-pairing. As for Sasuke, I hope this chapter makes it apparent that the other guys DO have a real chance to be paired with Hoyuki despite the fact that he is currently the only one to actually willingly approach her if only for his own selfish reasons. Shino may be the favoured partner but only time will tell if he actually does get paired with her. Besides, I like Chouji and Lee too (grins evilly at the implications of a Springtime-of-Youth version of a Xenomorph). In other news, Naruto: Shushunin, a Naruto crossover fanfiction with a French animated series called Wakfu, is available for your reading pleasure. If you have not heard or watched the Wakfu series, I highly recommend it and hope you folks like that other crossover fanfiction.


	4. Chapter 3

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction. With that said, I hope you enjoy my literary contribution.

**Chapter 3: Friends and Family**

Deciding that the children's brains had enough time to properly reboot, Iruka coughed to get their attention and said, "Alright, pay attention, everyone!" Getting their attention, Iruka announced, "It's time to review your ninja techniques." Hearing the young man mention about ninja techniques, the children quickly became attentive.

Ninja techniques are divided into at least three major categories which are taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Taijutsu is basically physical martial arts while ninjusu are a set of ninja techniques which require chakra to work and have an actual physical effect unlike genjutsu which creates illusions instead. Subcategories of ninja techniques include barrier ninjutsu, clone techniques, seal techniques, sword techniques and unique secret clan techniques. There are also forbidden ninja techniques which no sane academy teacher in their right mind will ever teach to academy students who have not even earned their headbands which signify their status as ninjas. For example, the seal which Naruto used to summon that alien egg was created using his own unique brand of sealing technique which Hiruzen later classified as a forbidden technique due to the potential danger it poses never mind the risk of it being misused.

Soon each student showed Iruka their mastery over the basic academy techniques which include Kawarimi no Jutsu, the art of body replacement to esacpe from harm, Bunshin no Jutsu, the art of creating illusionary clones to confuse enemies, and Henge no Jutsu, the art of illusionary transformation. After testing the rest of the students, Iruka turned his attention to Hoyuki and said, "Your turn, Hoyuki."

Hoyuki was feeling unusually nervous, as indicated by her slightly twitchy tail, as she stood before Iruka due to the fact that she never did any ninja techniques before. True, Naruto did try to teach her the basics and Iruka had been helping her for the past week when he realized her undereducated state but she still has yet to do any of the techniques. Her unease was noted by the other students as the fangirls silently wished for her to fail while Hinata silently cheered for her and Naruto loudly spoke, "You can do it, Hoyuki-chan!"

Hearing Naruto's encouragement, Hoyuki nodded to Naruto and Hinata before facing Iruka and saying, "_I'm ready, sensei._"

"Take your time to do the handseals. Just be sure to get them right."

Nodding, Hoyuki did the necessary handseals to activate a henge before changing into a perfect copy of Iruka, if he had her tail and was dressed in rags himself. Looking at his flawed doppelganger, Iruka resisted an urge to chuckle as he smiled at her and said, "Not bad for a first try but do try to complete the handseals faster, change your clothes and not include that tail of yours."

Pouting slightly, Hoyuki changed back into her normal form in a puff of smoke and said, "_Hard to imagine life without tail._"

Unable to resist a snicker, Iruka then said, "Alright, next technique."

The next technique she did was the bushin which was flawed due to the simple fact that she created a copy of a drone, from her original species. Needless to say, many people got frightened by the drooling beast while Iruka deemed her attempt a failure as well due to the obvious differences in appearance.

Hoyuki's third technique, the kawimari, was done surprisingly well, thus earning Iruka's good-natured ribbing at Naruto as he noted, "At least you did your kawimari right, if a little slow on your handseals. Naruto can't even do any of the three techniques right even with his faster handseals."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the protesting blond boy, Iruka asked Hoyuki, "Are there any other techniques you can show me?" Left unsaid was that the Hokage had specifically requested him and every other academy teacher to provide a report on Hoyuki's progress, especially any unique bloodline techniques she may possess.

Nodding, Hoyuki then asked, "_Can brother join?_"

Surprised, Iruka asked, "Why?"

"_He knows my techniques._"

Thinking it over for a moment, Iruka saw no harm in it as it is nothing unusual for family members to share their techniques. Besides, he needed to test Naruto sooner or later. "Alright, but let him do the academy techniques first before you two do your shared techniques together."

After Naruto did his techniques, with surprisingly better success than before as he did both kawimari and henge right this time, although he still cannot do his bushins right, Iruka then faced the two Uzumaki siblings and said, "Alright, show me what you two can do."

Looking at each other, Naruto wore a foxy grin while Hoyuki wore a small smile. Turning their attention to a log Iruka had provided at their request, both assumed a stance and shouted together, "Xenojutsu, Shadow Bursters!" Throwing one arm forward with an open palm, the two children suddenly created eye-less serpent-like horrors with black chitin for skin, vertebrae-like tails and mouths filled with fangs. Not surprisingly, nearly everyone was horrified by the technique, especially those who saw the similarity between the serpents with Hoyuki's original alien species such as that drone-bushin Hoyuki created. Seeing the serpents coil around an unfortunate wooden log before viciously ripping the target apart did nothing to reassure them.

Staring at the broken remains of the unfortunate log, Iruka nervously asked, "Was that… a secret clan technique?"

"Yup, based on Hoyuki-chan's original species," replied a grinning Naruto. "So, what do you think?"

"It's… certainly a deadly technique." Iruka was silently praying that the two children did not know any more horrific techniques as he asked, "Do you two know any more techniques?"

Fortunately enough, the next two techniques they showed were less horrific, if potentially even more insidious, by nature. The second technique they showed was basically a hiding technique which allows them to perfectly blend into the shadows while the third technique technique allows them to suppress their chakra to the point of appearing non-existent. Combined together, the two techniques allow them to become almost invisible even to people with sensory abilities such as the Byakugan.

Impressed by the latter two techniques, Iruka asked, "I don't suppose these two techniques have anything to do with any of your recent pranks, do they?" Seeing the grinning blond boy was enough to answer that question as Iruka dismissed the two of them. As he dismissed them, he made a mental note to inform the Hokage immediately as he quietly considered the implications of Naruto being able to use what could be Hoyuki's bloodline techniques, "Could he have somehow acquired her bloodline abilities because he was her host?" Iruka's train of thought was shared by at least two other students, Shikamaru and Shino.

Scene Change

It was during the following flower arrangement class, which Hoyuki would still skip as she dislikes the lesson, when the other girls finally confronted Hinata. After all, it is not every day one sees Naruto being truly bashful to anyone let never mind the fact that Hoyuki of all people seems to like her. True, there are rumours that Hinata was interested in Naruto but the fangirls never really paid much attention to her due to the fact that she has no interest in Sasuke and tended to avoid attention. Gathering around the meek girl, Ino asked, "Ok, just what the heck did you do to make Hoyuki like you?"

Feeling nervous, especially since she knows that the girls surrounding her all dislike or even hate Hoyuki to some degree, Hinata stammered, "I-I didn't do anything… m-much."

Not convinced, Sakura asked, "Yeah, right! We're talking about the most heartless vicious monster the academy has ever accepted here!" The other girls, Ino included, nodded in agreement with Sakura.

Upset that they would call Hoyuki as such, especially after seeing her nicer side which made Hinata think of her as a fond and clingy sister, who is admittedly capable of being a vicious and apparently heartless monster if needed, Hinata argued, "S-she's much nicer than that!"

"And what do you know? She has been attacking us for the past week!" cried Ami.

"A-after you all attacked her," Hinata replied. Hoyuki made no secret of her annoyance at the fangirls.

Surprised at Hinata's attempt of being deadpan and snarky, even though she is really just stating a fact, the girls were stunned for a moment before Sakura angrily argued, "She ruined my hair!" Indeed, Sakura was forced to shave her hair bald after Hoyuki almost scalped her and had to wear a beanie ever since.

Showing her still-bandaged hand, Ino added, "And she stabbed me, with her tail!"

"That bitch got me into trouble with the Torture and Interrogation Team!" cried Ami while other girls claimed that Hoyuki ruined their dress, vandalized their belongings, hit them for no reason and even tried to eat them.

Seeing the irrational girls, Hinata sighed and replied, "Sakura-san, y-you tried to get Hoyuki-chan into a trap. Ino-san, you t-tried to take over her body and she was a-actually stabbing herself. Ami, y-you spread horrible rumours about N-Naruto-kun, who Hoyuki-chan likes. O-of course she will get angry."

Infuriated at the fact that Hinata was actually arguing against them rather than giving them the answers they wanted, Sakura screeched, "And just what did that monster see in you of all people to actually like you?"

Normally Hinata would shrink away from the domineering girl but, after spending even a short amount of time with Naruto and Hoyuki, as well as realizing that Naruto was appreciating her now that he finally noticed courtesy of his tailed sister, Hinata stood her ground and argued, "M-maybe it's the fact that I actually bothered to look underneath the underneath. Maybe it's the fact that I like Naruto, who inspired me to be strong when no one else would, not even my own family. Maybe it's the simple fact that I'm not an obsessive fangirl who will hate someone just because she dared to beat their "Sasuke-kun", in a taijutsu lesson!" While Hinata's outburst was not as loud as Sakura's earlier screeching, her message was more than clear enough as her unexpected actions stunned them to silence. Even Suzume, who was silently letting the girls interrogate Hinata for answers, was stunned by her actions.

Taking deep breaths to calm down, Hinata glared at the girls and said, "H-hoyuki-chan was right, n-none of you bother to look beneath the surface, n-never mind the underneath. I-if any of you really knew Naruto, y-you wouldn't call him a mere dead-last loser a-and as for Hoyuki-chan, e-even her original kin are more than simple monsters."

Turning around, Hinata was about to leave when Suzume demanded, "Where do you think you're going?"

Not bothering to turn back, not that she needed to with her Byakugan active, Hinata replied, "To where Hoyuki-chan is, Suzume-sensei."

As one of the many people who dislike both Naruto and Hoyuki, Suzume had to restrain herself from growling as she spoke, "And what would your father say if he knew what you were doing in school?"

Suzume was quietly smirking as Hinata froze, only to have her satisfaction broken when Hinata replied, "D-do was you will. M-my f-father has already accepted my relationship with them."

Shocked, Suzume was silent as Hinata continued to leave…

Scene Change

Hoyuki was about to spar with Naruto when Iruka, who was taking over for Mizuki that day, noticed Hinata approaching and asked, "What are you doing here, Hinata?"

Pausing in her stride, Hinata said, "I… w-would like to join this lesson, Iruka-sensei."

While Iruka was surprised by Hinata's request, Hoyuki smiled almost eagerly and asked, "_Want spar?_"

Smiling in return, Hinata replied, "I… had been thinking of a technique t-that I want to try after seeing you two spar and hunt."

Grinning, Naruto happily hopped out of the ring and said, "Then take my place! I bet it's a really cool technique!"

Blushing bright red at Naruto's statement, Hinata was feeling a little faint as Hoyuki smiled and said, "_My pleasure, sister._"

Remembering her reason to skip Suzume's lesson, Hinata steeled her resolve and entered the ring, trying her best to ignore the stare and leers of the boys. Focusing her attention to Hoyuki and Naruto, who had been nothing but kind and supportive to her ever since the three of them first got together as a group over the last weekend, Hinata assumed a taijutsu stance and told Iruka, "I-I'm ready, Iruka-sensei."

Feeling uncertain, considering that it is the meek Hyuuga heiress against a girl who can fight viciously enough to scare even Inuzuka Kiba, Iruka turned his attention to Naruto who grinned reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, Hoyuki-chan knows how to control herself."

"So says the guy who gets hurt the most when sparring with her," muttered Kiba. In Hoyuki's defence, she is well-aware of Naruto's high healing rate hence her lack of restraint compared to the others. In her point of view, sparring should closely resemble actual combat to get the best training results.

Although feeling less confident than the blond boy, Iruka knew him well enough that Naruto will never willingly put his precious people in danger. As such, he sighed and said, "Alright then." Turning his attention to the two girls in the ring, Iruka asked, "Are the contenders ready?" Seeing neither girl backing down, Iruka then announced, "Then begin!"

Hoyuki was the first to act as she charged towards Hinata with the intent to overpower her. However, rather than retreating or freezing in fright as expected, Hinata actually attempted to counterattack with her now-glowing hands. Recognizing the pale-blue glow around Hinata's hands, Hoyuki immediately retreated and verbally hissed at Hinata, showing prominent canines and pointed molars.

Shocked that Hinata actually managed to drive the girl back, regardless of the fact that Hinata knew Jyuuken, the Hyuuga clan's unique taijutsu which specializes in crippling enemies by blocking their ability to use chakra, everyone but Naruto gaped as Hinata pressed into the offensive. Their reactions were understandable as only a few people actually knew that Hinata, Naruto and Hoyuki spent their weekend sparring and hunting together in a place known as the Forest of Death…

Flashback

"A-a-are you r-really sure w-we can go in?" asked a very nervous Hinata.

It was the day after Naruto finally realized that Hinata actually admired him, a revelation which actually made him quite bashful, when Hoyuki decided to invite Hinata to join them. Unable to resist the idea of spending time with someone that actually likes him, Naruto agreed after making it clear to the tailed girl that they will respect Hinata's decisions.

Nodding, Hoyuki explained, "_Serpent-Lady knows we come here._"

Blinking, Hianta was about to ask when a new voice suddenly said, "What your tailed friend means to say is that I know those two brats come here to hunt every now and again and I let them because they can take care of themselves and I happen to like them."

Startled, Hinata turned around to face a purple-haired young woman who was dressed in an unbuttoned overcoat, a fishnet suit and a mini-skirt. Shocked that any woman would let herself dress this way, Hinata was speechless as Hoyuki respectfully greeted the woman with purple hair tied into a short spiky ponytail, "_Hello, Serpent-Lady._"

Waving at the young woman, Naruto greeted her, "Hey, Anko-neechan."

Smirking, the young woman known as Mitarashi Anko said, "So, who's the new girl?" It was not that she did not already know who Hinata was but it never hurts to ask, especially given the fact that the meek heiress of a noble if generally aloof clan was now joining the two infamous regulars of the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, also known as the Forest of Death. As to how Naruto and Hoyuki ended up as such, it involved people deliberately trying to lead them to their doom when hunting became scarce in other accessible forested regions only for it to backfire spectacularly as Hoyuki actually loves the place. It must have something to do with the challenging prey in there which have surprisingly delicious meat. Anko, who was in charge of a routine patrol around the forest at the time, met the two and she was impressed enough by their hunting skills that she actually gave the Hokage her personal approval of their abilities during her report. As a person who is hated by many of the villagers like them due to her personal history, Anko quickly bonded with the two children.

"_Hinata, friend, sister,_" was Hoyuki's none too simple reply.

Surprised, Anko looked at the shy girl, noticed that Naruto was blushing as well, and wore a smirk as she noted, "So… is this your idea of a date, Naruto-kun?"

Almost swallowing his tongue, Naruto sputtered, "O-of course not! Hoyuki just wanted to invite her to hunt and spar with us!" Hinata meanwhile nodded meekly as she struggled to keep herself from fainting.

Rubbing her chin in mock-thoughtfulness, Anko argued, "But you know, guys normally bring their girls to movie theatres, fancy restaurants, festival parties or even love hotels for a date, not that I don't approve of your choice." Her wiggling eyebrows made it clear that she did indeed approve of it.

Blushing furiously, Naruto shouted, "A-Anko-neechan!"

Laughing at the blond boy, Anko turned her attention to a significantly more nervous Hinata as she spoke, "I'm not sure if you have what it takes to join them but, if they like you enough to invite you, then I'll let you in too, with my personal supervision of course."

Thankful that Anko was willing to tag along to help Hinata, Naruto gratefully said, "Thanks, Nee-chan."

Playfully tousling Naruto's spiky hair, Anko said, "No problem, Whiskers. Just don't hesitate to go wild with your girlfriend for my sake."

Naruto and Hinata cried in unison, "A-anko-neechan/san!" Hoyuki actually giggled at the young couple as they entered the Forest of Death through one of its forty-four gates.

Scene Change

Spending almost two entire days in the infamous forest training and hunting with Naruto, Hoyuki and Anko, Hinata would have immediately given up had she not received their guidance, encouragement and support. This is understandable as the creatures in the forest are dangerous even for inexperienced genin and she lacked their ability to stand bloodshed. Hinata was quite honestly traumatized by some of things she had seen them do, such as Hoyuki using her Shadow Burster technique to rip a bear into pieces. Nevertheless, she chose to persevere as her courage to face and adapt to difficult odds began to slowly but surely grow.

Naruto, the optimistic boy that he is despite being used to bloodshed, was her pillar of strength as his support and kind gestures, however awkward they may be at times especially with Hoyuki and Anko around, inspired her to persevere. Like Naruto, Hoyuki was a source of inspiration for Hinata as her strengths and calm confidence in her hunting skills made her quite honestly a little envious. It also helped that Hoyuki was understanding of Hinata's reluctance to kill and was willing to let Hinata to take her time getting used to bloodshed despite originating from a species of murderous monsters. Hinata also realized, to her surprise, that Hoyuki was clingy and tended to snuggle like a kitten when asleep. Anko, while certainly a "somewhat" eccentric and perverted person, was also an inspiration for Hinata due to her daring attitude even in the face of adversity such as the hatred she had to endure due to her past history. The young woman was also supportive of Hinata's relationship with Naruto although Hinata suspected it was just so that she could tease her and Naruto about the developments of their budding relationship.

Hinata's father, Hyuuga Hiashi, later found out about her recent activities and was greatly displeased by them, especially considering her choice of company and the fact that she actually spent the night with them in the Forest of Death of all places. Besides being the head of the prestigious Hyuuga clan, whom many would agree are generally aloof at best especially for people from the ruling main branch, Hiashi was also a cold father who seem to have lost all interest in his meek eldest daughter. His displeasure only grew when Hinata finally had the courage to argue with him after he forbade her to meet the three ever again by saying, "T-they had been m-more loving a-and more supportive to me in only two days than y-you have been for my whole life. I-I would s-sooner give up my eyes than give up on them!" Considering that the significance of sight in the Hyuuga clan, Hinata's proclamation basically meant that she would sooner be crippled in the worst way possible than give up on her newfound friends.

Hearing Hinata's proclamation, Hiashi was uncharacteristically livid at her defiance and slapped her. He would have proceeded to cruelly berate his own daughter had Naruto and Hoyuki not decided to follow her in secret after earlier noticing that Hinata was more frightened of returning home than staying in the Forest of Death. Hearing Anko's description of the Hyuuga clan did nothing to assure them hence why they used their unique stalking techniques to sneak into the Hyuuga compound. Seeing their friend struck down by her own father, both Naruto and Hoyuki released their respective killing intent upon him.

While Hiashi would never openly admit it, he was quite honestly terrified when he suddenly felt two forces of killing intent which had opposing but ultimately similar malicious natures. From one source was a cold feeling like an empty void that made his skin metaphorically burn from the heat suddenly fleeing from his chilled bones. As for the other source, it was a fiery feeling of black-hot rage which metaphorically numbed his skin as the flesh beneath seemed to burn. Before the man knew it, both Naruto and Hoyuki stood between him and Hinata, snarling like monsters as they continued to release their terrible killing intent respectively. Had it not been for the fact that they made it clear that they were protecting Hinata from him, Hiashi would not have hesitated to attack them with the aid of his clansmen. When the man argued that his business with his own daughter had nothing to do with them, Naruto called his argument "bullshit" while Hoyuki gave Hiashi the mother of all call outs against his "parenting skills"…

Scene Change

Glaring hatefully at Hiashi, Hoyuki verbally snarled, "Family? How is THIS family? You hurt child!"

Still wearing his lofty expression, Hiashi glared at the snarling slavering girl and asked, "And what do you know about family, monster? From what I hear, your kind live like ants with the mindless drones obeying their queen's every whim." Hearing Hiashi say that made the lower-ranked branch members of the Hyuuga clan, who are forced to bear seals on their foreheads which can either cause them pain or even kill them to ensure their continued loyalty to the main branch, understandably upset.

Before an infuriated Naruto could argue, Hoyuki verbally shrieked, "Hive IS family! Family protect their own! Queens birth, protect and lead children! Children serve Queen and help each other! Children may kill sibling to become new Queen but never betray Queen! Queen may lead children to death but never betray children! You hurt, not protect, abandon, not lead! YOU BETRAYED HER!"

Hearing Hoyuki's outburst, which more or less screamed the fact that he was hurting Hinata, his own eldest daughter, in ways which even her own kind, which are supposedly an entire species of mindless and heartless monsters, deem morally unacceptable, Hiashi was for once in his life stunned to the point of silently gaping. Even the other Hyuuga clansmen were stunned as they never expected anyone to talk back to Hiashi, and actually win a strong enough moral high-ground to silence or even humble him. Staring at the expression of outrage on Hoyki's face, Hiashi turned his attention to Naruto who quickly recovered from his own amazement and proceeded to glare at Hiashi with his presently blood-red eyes. Hiashi then turned his attention to Hinata, especially at the bruise on her cheek courtesy of his moment of outrage at her defiance. As he looked at Hinata, he unwillingly saw an image of his beloved late wife, whom Hinata resembled, suffering similar abuse in both physical and emotional. "Am I… really betraying our own daughter…?" Faced with the reality of how he had treated his own daughter, whom his late wife loved dearly and his younger twin brother died to protect, Hiashi already knew the answer which he had tried to ignore for years. With the cold unfeeling wall around his heart cracking, as was his heart, Hiashi's eyes became moist with tears he had not shed ever since the death of his wife…

End Flashback

Hinata yelped in pain as Hoyuki struck her stomach with her tail. Even when using the blunt side, her tail still packed a punch as Hinata was knocked down. Nevertheless, nearly all of the spectators were amazed as they later realized Hinata actually managed to inflict injury on Hoyuki, something which only a few of the boys could accomplish. Nursing her partially disabled tail, courtesy of Hinata using her Jyuuken, Hoyuki said, "_Jyuuken, dangerous._"

Coughing, Hinata wore a pained smile as she replied, "I could say the same about your tail, Hoyuki-chan."

Letting her partially disabled tail drag along the ground, Hoyuki smiled at Hinata and said, "_You're getting better, sister._"

Struggling back onto her feet, Hinata replied, "But not good enough."

"_Even strong Queens grow old and weak. Hive always starts weak but can grow strong._"

Understanding Hoyuki's meaning, Hinata resumed her taijutsu stance and said, "I know, and I plan to grow strong, strong enough to stand by those that I care for so that they will not be forsaken and alone like I was, to stand before them to protect them when they are helpless and to guide them when they are lost, to hold them close to comfort them when they are hurt and to bring them back up when they fall, and to stand behind them as I believe in them even if they don't believe in themselves." Activating her Byakugan, the sincerity in Hinata's brave smile made her outright beautiful even with the pulsating veins around her eyes due to the Byakugan and the dirt covering her face, thus accidentally captivating almost every boy in the class, even Naruto who now felt certain he was really starting to fall in love with her. "I will not give up in that ambition nor will I forsake or betray those that I care for as that is my way of the ninja!"

Hearing Hinata's oath, Hoyuki was actually grinning widely, showing her impressive teeth as drool flowed freely from her lips and hot vapour exhaled from her opened maw, thus scaring Sasuke and even Shino who were sweating slightly at her expression. Kiba on the other hand was hugging Akamaru like a frightened little girl while Chouji was actually holding onto his bag of potato chips as though ready to offer it to the apparently crazed girl as a means of appeasement. Considering the almost hungrily predatory look on Hoyuki's grinning expression, no one could really blame them. Naruto on the other hand was simply feeling sheepish as he knew her expression meant that she was actually getting excited by the fight to the point of facially expressing it. "Hey, go easy on Hinata-chan, Hoyuki-chan!"

Hearing her brother's request, Hoyuki only nodded as the two combatants faced one another. After a moment of tense silence, Hoyuki suddenly charged towards Hinata, intent on overpowering through her Jyuuken to defeat her as she knew that stealth was useless in this match against the Hyuuga girl. Hinata however was prepared and gathered her remaining strength into her right arm. Then, just as Hoyuki was about to collide into her, Hinata suddenly unleashed a barrage of blinding-fast chakra-enhanced strikes using only her right arm. Shocked by the technique, which must have been inspired by Hoyuki's tail if the spearing and whipping motion of her arm is of any indication, the spectators could only stare in amazement as Hoyuki was actually defeated due to having all of her limbs disabled by Hinata's unusual variation of Jyuukan. Despite her apparent victory, Hinata suffered as well as her right arm was now screaming in agony due to the strain she forced it through. Clutching her agonized arm, Hinata was struggling to suppress her tears from the pain as Naruto quickly stood by her side and said, "That… was awesome, Hinata-chan!"

Looking at Naruto with tears welling in her eyes, Hinata wore a smile and replied, "Thank you…" Hinata then fainted, not from being close to the boy she has a crush on but due to sheer physical exhaustion, the pain in her arm and her relief in knowing that she had done well.

Cradling the unconscious girl in his arms, Naruto turned his attention to Hoyuki and asked, "You ok, Hoyuki-chan?"

Wearing a small but friendly grin despite her defeat, Hoyuki replied, "_Yes. Tend sister._"

Nodding, Naruto requested Iruka, "Please take care of my sister, Iruka-sensei."

Recovering from his amazement, Iruka smiled reassuringly at Naruto and replied, "Don't worry, I will." Naruto then quickly took Hinata to the infirmary, never noticing that the fangirls, who decided to follow Hinata after she actually decided to skip the flower-arrangement class, watching the entire spectacle in mute amazement…

Scene Change

The first to recover was Ino as she turned her attention to the other girls and asked, "D-did you see that?"

Nodding, Sakura whispered, "She… she actually managed to beat that monster."

"That… timid loser actually beat her…" said Ami.

"Does that mean… Hinata is stronger that Hoyuki?"

Shaking her head, Ino said, "Of course not, Hinata was using Jyuuken." As the Hyuuaga clan is well known, especially for their Byakugana nd Jyuuken, it was no surprise that everyone in Konohagakure has at least some idea of them. "She must have used it to beat her."

"So does that mean that Hinata was cheating?"

Glaring at the unnamed fangirl, Sakura said, "Of course she's cheating, all she has to do is disable that freak with just a few taps which somehow still count as taijutsu!"

"Maybe, but I don't think any of us can call her a coward after seeing that."

Hearing Ino's statement, none of the fangirls could argue against her point no matter how much some of them wish to do otherwise. The look on Hoyuki's face as she wore that horrific wide grin would haunt them for some nights to come.

Still in a state of disbelief, Sakura asked, "But how did that girl, who likes Naruto of all people, get so strong?"

Scene Change

As the girls wondered about Hinata, so did the boys as they could not believe that the shy girl actually managed to beat Hoyuki even though the tailed girl was obviously holding back for Hinata's sake, quite generously in fact. The fact that Hinata did not faint or freeze in fright from Hoyuki's terrible expression alone was an admirable achievement of courage as far as many of them were concerned.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino mused, "To think that someone as mild-mannered and meek as Hinata not only befriended such a dangerous individual but even grew strong enough to defeat her in an admittedly friendly match… I would need to do an immediate reassessment of Hoyuki."

Sasuke on the other hand was displeased by the fact that Hoyuki had just made another person stronger when it could have been him gaining that strength. "What does she see in them anyway?" The vengeful boy never considered that Hoyuki would gladly help any of her loved ones become stronger. He also failed to see wisdom in Hinata's vow to grow stronger as it went against everything he believes an avenger should be.

Iruka, who was currently cradling the limp child who was surprisingly small and slender despite her strength and capacity for ferocity, smiled at Hoyuki and asked, "You went easy on her, didn't you?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied, "_Sister knows too._"

"I'm proud, of the both of you."

Surprised, Hoyuki asked, "_Why both?_"

"I doubt that I need to explain about Hinata's growth but, in your case, I'm proud because you held back so that she can become stronger at her own pace, something which her own clan seem to fail in realizing." The scarred teacher then wore a grin as he added, "I just wish you held back more for the other boys, even Naruto despite his ability to heal."

Now understanding what Iruka meant, Hoyuki wore a small smile as she replied, "_I do hold back, move as fast and hit as hard as they, unless I don't like them or they want hard training._"

"Well that explains how Naruto became so strong so quickly," Iruka mused. Indeed, Naruto was presently strong enough to be easily on par or stronger than the likes of Kiba and Sasuke when it comes to taijutsu. Knowing the boy, he must have requested Hoyuki to train him as hard as reasonably possible if his frequent defeats and bloody injuries from their spars are of any indication. "I'll have to remind that troublemaker the importance of restraint…"

Thus ended another day in the ninja academy of Konohagakure, a day which will be remembered as the day Hinata impressed everyone, even the fangirls who still think her crush on Naruto is nothing short of crazy…

-Chapter Fin-

Note: The fact that Naruto has Hoyuki's flesh and blood within him, thereby gaining her Xeno Bloodline, is based on the idea that they could still get a clone of the Xenomorph queen from Ellen Ripley by cloning its deceased host in Alien Resurrection. As for Hinata's progress as a brave person and as a ninja, I hope this is not too fast a development. Reviews and feedback will be appreciated and feel free to let me know if you want an omake of Hinata's misadventure in the Forest of Death (it will be a bit bloody though and I'm likely to still include them as flashbacks in future chapters). Also, it seems to be heading straight for a Hoyuki-Shino pairing although I'm still open for pairing her with Chouji, Lee or even (male) Haku.


	5. Chapter 4

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy my latest chapter and would like to thank everyone for the positive responses.

**Chapter 4: New Bonds**

Hinata was happily humming as she prepared three lunchboxes. It had been two days after her taijutsu match with Hoyuki and, having recovered enough to use her right arm, decided to prepare some lunchboxes for herself as well as Naruto and his sister. She still could hardly believe that so much had occurred over the few days after her friendship with Hoyuki began. Even more surprising was that her father had finally started to repair his estranged relationship with her, in his own way anyway. While Hinata was sure that her father will not express his affections openly anytime soon, if ever, she was nevertheless glad that he had finally stopped seeing her as a lost cause of a Hyuuga heir and more as his own daughter.

Suddenly, Hinata felt someone staring at her and subtly activated her Byakugan to see her younger sister, Hanabi, observing her intently. While more confident in her abilities and outgoing than Hinata, Hanabi is still a young girl at heart and was understandably curious about Hinata's recent activities, especially when it comes to Naruto and Hoyuki. Smiling at Hanabi's still-childish antics despite the fact that she had adapted better to Hiashi's strict upbringing than she herself had, Hinata said, "You know, you can always ask me directly, Hanabi-chan."

Pouting at being discovered, Hanabi stepped into the kitchen and asked, "Are you… going out on a date with that boy that sneaked into our house?" Left unsaid was that the younger girl was impressed that Naruto and Hoyuki were able to sneak into the Hyuuga compound undetected. Had they not released their killing intent which truthfully terrified her, Hanabi and the other Hyuuga clansmen would have never known that they had even snuck in.

Somehow able to stop herself from squeaking or yelping, Hinata blushed as she hesitantly replied, "Well… not really… n-not today anyway."

Quirking an eyebrow, Hanabi asked, "But why not? I thought you always liked that boy." After Naruto and Hoyuki left the house on that fateful day, Hinata finally admitted to the clan that she had always admired Naruto who inspired her to become stronger regardless of her failings. The young girl still could not understand why the older clansmen were so displeased by the fact when it was apparent that Naruto did nothing to harm her sister and had in fact helped her without even realizing it. To be honest, Hanabi was a little jealous of Naruto for being able to help her in ways she herself could not.

Twiddling her fingers, Hinata explained, "Well…the truth is… we s-sort of already had a date…"

Rather than satisfying her curiosity, Hinata's admission only made it grow as the normally polite girl suddenly wore a wide grin and eagerly asked, "When did that happen? Where did you two date? How did it go? Did you two hold hands, or kiss?"

Feeling embarrassed, Hinata nevertheless answered Hanabi's questions, "Well…"

Flashback

Despite Hinata's injury from her taijutsu match with Hoyuki on the previous day, Hinata was allowed to attend the ninja academy as usual with the exception that she would not be able to write and would need to rest rather than attend any outdoor lessons, especially taijutsu. Lying on her bed in the infirmary, Hinata was honestly feeling a little bored when Naruto appeared in the infirmary. Blushing deeply, Hinata asked, "W-what are you d-doing here, Naruto-kun?"

Grinning sheepishly, Naruto explained, "Well, I actually wanted to check up on you and Iruka-sensei allowed me to."

Happy that Naruto was concerned for her, Hinata smiled and gratefully replied, "T-thank you."

Feeling bashful from her smile, Naruto asked, "W-would you mind if I take a seat next to you?"

Hinata was certain her face was glowing as she spoke in reply, "O-o-of course not!"

Taking a seat next to Hinata, the blushing blond boy asked, "So… is there anything you want to talk about?"

"W-well, I'm a bit curious why Hoyuki-chan is not with you."

"Iruka-sensei said that only one of us needed to check on you and Hoyuki-chan agreed that I should be the one seeing you."

Making a mental note to thank the tailed girl, Hinata asked, "So, w-what do want to do, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto scratched his whisker marks nervously as he admitted, "To be honest, I didn't plan that far."

After what seemed to be a long moment of awkward silence, Hinata finally asked, "N-Naruto-kun?"

Suddenly attentive from her voice, Naruto asked, "Yes, Hinata-chan?"

"C-can I… touch your whiskers?"

Blinking in surprise at her unexpected request, Naruto felt a little nervous as he spoke, "Sure, I guess."

Adjusting herself to a comfortable sitting position, Hinata reached out with her left hand and touched his whisker-like birthmarks which she had been curious about ever since she first knew of him. Her fascination was apparent as she tenderly stroked against the marks which felt rough like scars on his cheeks. She then noticed that Naruto was making a face and was trembling slightly. Worried by his reaction, she asked, "D-does it hurt?"

Naruto expressed his uncertainty as he answered, "Well… not really, it just kind of tickles."

"Tickles?" asked Hinata as she tilted her head.

"Yeah, like having your foot or tummy tickled."

Suddenly feeling a little mischievous, which she would later claim she must had acquired from the two Uzumaki siblings, Hinata smiled impishly as cupped his cheek and continued to stroke it tenderly like stroking a kitten or a puppy. Feeling the ticklish sensation from his whisker marks, Naruto blushed slightly as he spoke, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you."

Giggling slightly, Hinata teased, "M-maybe."

Naruto wore a grin as he replied, "You're getting pretty bold you know."

Suddenly feeling uneasy, Hinata asked, "D-do you… d-dislike bold girls?"

Scratching the back of his head, Naruto answered, "Well, not really. I still think you're pretty cute even when you're being bold and I doubt ANYONE can be as bold as Anko-neechan."

Giggling in agreement with Naruto about Anko, as her manner of dress alone is a testament to that, Hinata then asked, "S-so you really d-don't mind?"

"Sure, why would I lie to my precious person?"

Touched by his thoughtful response, Hinata tentatively spoke, "W-would you… l-like to touch my cheek?"

Surprised by her offer, Naruto hesitated before he asked, "You sure?" Encouraged by her timid nod, Naruto tentatively cupped her cheek with his own left hand. When his hand finally touched and held her soft unblemished cheek, Naruto looked into her pale lavender eyes with his own cerulean-blue eyes and felt time slowing down to a halt as they held each other's cheek. Feeling her warm cheek against his hand and her delicate hand against his own flushing cheek, Naruto suddenly felt very self-conscious as he shyly looked away. Hinata felt the same as she looked away as well, especially due to the fact that they appeared to be almost kissing. Despite their mutual embarrassment, neither wanted to take each other's hand off the other's cheek and any observer would almost swear seeing a pink heart floating over them…

End Flashback

"…a-and before we knew it, i-it was already time for the nest lesson."

After hearing about Hinata's date of sorts, Hanabi was blushing almost as deeply as Hinata before she suddenly cupped her cheeks with both hands and actually squealed in delight, "Aw, that's just so sweet!"

Surprised at Hanabi's unexpected reaction, Hinata then giggled at her response and said, "Yeah, it r-really was."

Neither girl noticed that their father had overheard the entire conversation as he stood just beside the door into the kitchen. While glad that his daughter was finally obtaining her happiness and would do nothing to stop her, Hiashi nevertheless made a mental note to threaten Naruto with a Jyuuken strike at his testicles if he ever dares to break her heart. As Hiashi made that mental note, Naruto suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine and the blond boy somehow knew it had something to do with his relationship with Hinata…

Scene Change

Later that same day, Naruto, Hinata and Hoyuki were having lunch during the academy's lunch break, with Hinata sitting in between the two siblings. Having never eaten a homemade lunchbox before, both Uzumaki siblings were understandably ecstatic as they ate. Filling her cheeks with food like a hamster, Hoyuki happily exclaimed via telepathy, "_Food, tasty!_" It was apparent that she got some of her eating habits from Naruto.

Giggling at their antics, Hinata was glad that they loved her cooking. Glancing at Naruto, Hinata blushed as she remembered what she had told Hanabi earlier that morning. Gathering her courage, Hinata was about to ask if Naruto wanted to go out on a date with her when a voice suddenly asked, "May I take a seat?"

Surprised, everyone turned their attention to none other than Shino. While unsure why Shino would make that request, they saw no reason not to let him sit with them as Hinata politely spoke, "S-sure, Shino-san."

Nodding in thanks, Shino took a seat beside Naruto and took out his own lunchbox before saying, "There is something which I would like to discuss about."

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto asked, "And what would that be?"

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino explained, "It had recently come to my attention that Hoyuki, while openly admitting that she originated from a species of viciously dangerous eusocial parasitoid aliens, was able to befriend Hinata whom I initially thought would be the last person to ever approach her. As it is apparent that my earlier, and less-than-flattering, opinions of her were flawed by my admittedly biased first impression on her, I had decided to reassess her. Unfortunately, observation from a respectable distance can only provide so much information and, as such, I would like to strike a direct conversation with her, her brother and her friend to understand her better, hence my reason for taking a seat beside you three."

Hearing Shino's elaborate explanation, Naruto wore a blank expression before he tilted his head and asked, "What?"

Almost sighing at Naruto's apparently still-present inability to process long elaborate explanations, Shino summarized, "What I meant is, may I get to know you three better?"

Finally realizing what Shino meant to say and the possible implications, Naruto wore a wide grin and said, "Sure, feel free to ask anything!" Hinata wore a small smile and nodded in affirmation while Hoyuki continued to gaze at Shino curiously.

Nodding in understanding, Shino said, "Very well." Turning his attention to Hoyuki, Shino asked, "While I am at least vaguely aware of your original species, I would like to know them in full, if you do not mind."

Hoyuki pondered for a moment before she nodded and replied, "_Alright._" The tailed girl then gave Shino as well as Naruto and Hinata a full explanation of her original species…

Scene Change

Hoyuki's original species is infamously known across the stars by many names, Zerg, which means the Insidious Infestors, Tyranids, which means the Terrible Nightmares, Sleazoids, which means the Living Demons, Kiande Amedha, which means the Hard Meat, and, somehow most appropriately, Xenomorphs, which means the Alien Forms, or _Internecivus raptus_, which means the Murderous Thieves. Created as a species of bio-engineered monsters by a race of space-faring giants known as the Mala'Kak, the Xenomorphs were used as living weapons during a time of brutal civil war. Engineered to become the ultimate killers which cannot even breed without killing, the Xenomorphs are capable of devastating entire planets as they kill off every living thing in their path. Even the webbing used to build their hives is deadly as it is actually a living thing which will destroy the local ecosystem as it spreads across the planet. However, despite the measures their creators took to prevent it from happening, the Xenomorphs eventually turned against their masters and killed them all as a result.

Besides the Mala'Kak, the Xenomorphs had encountered many other alien races such as the Yautja, a race of proud hunters that actually breed them to serve as the ultimate prey, the Cybertronians, a race of giant living machines capable of transforming their bodies into other forms, the Poleepkwa, a race of humanoid arthropods which have tentacles around their mouths as well as two pairs of limbs, the Orks, a race of green-skinned ape-like brutes which literally live for fighting, the Andalites, a race of blue-furred centaur-like beings with four eyes and bladed tails, the Wookies, hairy bestial humanoids which are nevertheless more than sufficiently skilled and intelligent enough to travel between the stars, the Sangheili, a race of lizard-like humanoids with four lower mandibles and digitigrade feet, the Chozo, a race of ancient birdmen which had existed even during the time of the Mala'Kak's height of power, and, most unusual of all, humans…

Scene Change

"Wait, so you're saying that your home universe had humans too?" asked Shino.

Nodding, Hoyuki explained, "_Humans back there and here not too different. No Chakra, but higher technology. Usually try to kill us or catch us to make us their slaves._"

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino said, "That… was unexpected." Turning his attention to Naruto, Shino asked, "And judging from your lack of response, I'm assuming that you knew as well?" Unlike Hinata who was equally amazed, Naruto still maintained his normal expression.

"Yup, she told me just about everything about her race not long after we started living together." Naruto was sheepish was he added, "But truth be told, I can't remember half of the complicated things she tells me."

Not surprised by the fact, Shino turned his attention to Hoyuki and asked, "So what are your hives like, if I may ask?"

"_Hive is family. Queen is mother, lays eggs. Eggs hatch to what some call facehuggers. Facehuggers put larva in host. Larva grows in host, sometimes becoming like host, becoming burster. Burster leaves host, killing host, and eats. Burster grows into adult. Adult includes drone, runner, warrior, praetorian, and queen. Drone is worker, weakest but many and makes nodes for hive webbing. Runner is scout, run on all fours and very fast but weak like drone. Warrior is soldier, larger and stronger, protecting hive and fighting enemy. Praetorian is elite guard, stronger and smarter than warrior. Queen is mother and leader of hive._" Hoyuki then wore a thoughtful expression as she continued to explain like a naïve young girl, "_Sometimes hive make different castes like flying queens, brood carriers, arachnoids, stalkers, flyers, swimmers, crushers, brutes, ravagers and slithers. Flying queen weaker but can fly far. Brood carrier like praetorian but weaker and carries many larvae inside like big facehugger. Arachnoid is facehugger with no host, become one with larva, small but many. Stalker is larger runner, slower but stronger, quieter and smarter. Flyer is like bird and swimmer is like fish. Crusher has hard head, block way and crush with head. Brute is bigger and stronger than praetorian but dumb and slow. Ravager like warrior, has long claws and stronger but hard to control. Slither looks like burster but bigger, stronger and burrows fast._"

Fascinated, Shino asked, "And how does your kind make new queens?"

"_Three ways, queen egg, praetorian or royal jelly. Queen eggs hatch into special facehuggers, lays two larvae before dying, one larva is queen. Praetorian becomes new queen if old queen is dead. Royal jelly is made by queen, can turn even drone and warrior into new queen, turn flyer into flying queen._"

"I am assuming that your hives favour the egg method while the latter two methods are for emergency reestablishment of a hive or hives in the event of a queen's death. The royal jelly method even more so as it only applies when there is no praetorians left to take over the hive as a new queen."

"_Correct._"

"Are there any special characteristics of your kind which we should know about?"

"_Our blood can melt through many things, but our skin does not melt. Our memory is shared with hive and we remember everything our mother and host know. We don't feel boredom, pleasure, fear, love, hate, joy, grief, hope, despair but we feel loss, gain, pain, relief._" Hoyuki then wore a sheepish smile as she admitted, "_We never knew human emotion could be so strong, so complicated._"

A little perplexed at the contradiction, Shino asked, "Even with their memories?"

"_We remember thoughts, memories, not emotion beyond what we can feel. We also cannot understand to make technology._"

Hearing Hoyuki's explanation, Shino mused, "I suppose that is to be expected. If her kind is as intelligent as I think they are, making them incapable of true empathy would ensure that they remain effective as living weapons while their inability to make their own technology will ensure that their kind will never travel between worlds while their more unique forms will allow them to travel between continents within the world they are bound to." Deciding to change the topic, Shino asked, "So what is your opinion about humans, now that you are one yourself, Hoyuki-san?"

Frowning slightly, Hoyuki then replied, "_Strange. Humans, especially bad humans, think they are greater than all, even when they are not. Even Queen Mothers, mothers of queens, do not think that way. Humans can think but often do not, maybe because of strong emotion or dumb instincts, like fangirl instincts. Humans don't like killing, makes no sense because killing necessary to eat, to live. Humans can betray even family, because they can choose to, which is madness._" Shrugging, Hoyuki added, "_I'm surprised humans not extinct yet._"

Shino smiled at the ironic truth in her words as he spoke, "Yes, we must be most strange indeed by the standards of your original kin." Deciding that he had heard enough about her kind, although he made a mental note to ask more about the humans and different alien races of her home universe, Shino asked, "Is there anything which you would like to ask of me?" It is only polite that the person who answered your questions should be allowed to ask for answers from you in return.

"_Yes, are you a hive?_" Hoyuki asked curiously.

Surprised, as he was sure he had kept his kikaichuu, small beetle-like insects which live in symbiosis with members of the Aburame clan thus granting them their unique clan abilities, hidden inside his own body which serves as their living hive, Shino asked, "How did you know?"

"_I sense link, between you and your hive._"

Feeling apprehensive, which made his insides literally crawl in agitation, Shino asked, "Are you… put off by it?" Many people, especially girls, are put off by the kikaichuu as well as the calm logical behaviour of most Aburame clan members.

Shaking her head, Hoyuki replied, "_No, hive is small but still hive, family, to you._"

Seeing Hoyuki's small but sincere smile, Shino released a breath he did not know he was holding as he was for some reason glad that Hoyuki took no offense over his unique clan abilities. "Your understanding is… appreciated, Hoyuki-san."

"_May I see?_"

Once again surprised, Shino turned his attention towards Naruto and Hinata who nodded in consent before he said, "Alright, but only a little." After Hoyuki nodded in acceptance, Shino rolled up his sleeve and allowed the beetle-like kikaichuu crawl out of pores on his skin while specialized veins beneath his skin seem to undulate with the moving insects. Rather than scaring or disgusting the tailed girl, the sight of the crawling insects actually fascinated her as she gazed at the insects with an almost child-like expression of wonder on her face.

Drawing her face closer to Shino's arm to get a better look at the insects crawling over and inside his exposed forearm, Hoyuki said, "_Little drones… kind of cute._" It was apparent that her words were the last thing any of the other three children expected to hear as Naruto sputtered in dumbfounded shock while Hinata wore a bewildered expression and Shino's swarm was actually buzzing in surprise.

Raising both eyebrows over his sunglasses, Shino asked, "You actually think of them as… cute?"

Nodding, Hoyuki explained, "_Tiny, round, have beady eyes, cute._" Considering her alien origins, it was probably not that strange an explanation from her in hindsight.

Hearing her innocent explanation, Shino actually chuckled softly into his fist, thus surprising both Naruto and Hinata as he spoke, "You truly are an interesting person, Uzumaki Hoyuki." Packing away his lunchbox, despite the fact that he had not even opened it, Shino then stood up and bowed to the three seated children as he spoke, "I thank you for your enlightening words and, more importantly, your acceptance, Hoyuki-san. May we meet again?"

Considering Shino's offer, Hoyuki then nodded and replied with a small smile, "_I don't mind. You seem different from other humans, more like my original kind, Hive-Shino._"

Knowing that Hoyuki was trying to compliment him, Shino smiled beneath the tall collar of his jacket and replied, "Then it shall be my pleasure, Hoyuki-san."

As the tall boy left the three, Naruto turned his attention to Hinata as if to ask, "Is he…"

Blushing slightly, Hinata wondered the same thing as she gazed at Hoyuki and thought, "…starting to like Hoyuki-chan "that" way?"

Scene Change

Equally surprised by the implications were Ino and Sakura who were eavesdropping on the four children. Wearing a horrified expression, Ino said, "Can you imagine what their kids will be like?"

Sakura, who was considered the brightest girl in class for a reason, could only nod in mute understanding as she imagined a mini-version of Hoyuki wearing Shino's coat, sunglasses and, most horrifying of all, having his "unique" clan traits in addition to her own freaky weirdness. Both girls shuddered at the thought before proceeding to spread word to the entire academy faculty…

Scene Change

Sakura and Ino were not the only ones as Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji also overheard the conversation and were equally surprised themselves. Turning his attention to the other two with a comical gaping expression on his face, Kiba asked, "Did… Shino actually try to ask that freaky girl out?" Akamaru, which was riding on top of his head as usual, whined as though frightened by the mere idea of Shino and Hoyuki dating.

His potato chips temporarily forgotten, Chouji replied, "Sure seems that way."

Frowning, Shikamaru muttered, "This… will get troublesome."

"Gee, you think? We're talking about a walking bug-hive and the freakiest girl in the entire village here!" exclaimed Kiba.

"Personally, I'm not too surprised. Hoyuki did say she did not mind his hive and even called his insects cute."

Nodding in agreement with Chouji, Shikamaru said, "Hearing that will make anyone from his clan appreciate her, even if Shino used to be absolutely terrified of her until Hoyuki became friends with Hinata."

Scratching the back of his neck, Kiba said, "Yeah, and I still can't believe Hinata actually became friends with her. I mean, sure we now know that Hinata had liked Naruto for a long time but you'd think that she would be too scared to get close to that girl."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that. Unless I'm mistaken, Hoyuki may be the type to accept anyone who will be on good terms with her "hive"," said Shikamaru.

Raising an eyebrow, Kiba asked, "Wait, you mean she thinks of Naruto as her own "pack"?"

"That's exactly what I mean," confirmed Shikamaru.

"So, you think we can be friends with her because we know her brother?" asked Chouji. The three of them used to hang out together with Naruto to skip class or otherwise cause mischief, to the aggravation of Umino Iruka.

Shrugging, Shikamaru replied, "In theory, yes. But I doubt Naruto will still see us as friends if we don't like Hoyuki."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I won't like anyone that doesn't like Akamaru." Akamaru yipped in agreement with Kiba.

Turning his attention back to the three seated children, Chouji said, "Well, Hoyuki does seem friendly enough."

"Heck, if someone as timid as Hinata and as weird as Shino can be friends with her, I guess Akamaru and I can at least try to stop judging her by her scent and get to know her better." Both the boy and the puppy shivered as he added, "But I'm definitely NOT going to get on her bad side if I can avoid it." All three boys and one puppy nodded in solemn agreement as they remembered what happened to Hibachi when he insulted Hoyuki by calling her a freak during taijutsu class. As he was also responsible for getting Naruto into trouble, of the life-threatening sort, during Naruto's early days in the academy, Hoyuki was already on less than pleasant terms with him and his insult was just the excuse she needed to give him a piece of her mind. By the time Hoyuki was done with Hibachi, the boy's clothes were completely torn to shreds with light but painful scratch marks all over him. The boy was so badly traumatized by the event that he became a whimpering mess and would try to flee or hide from her whenever he sees her ever since. Needless to say, his parents were less than happy with the incident.

Understanding of Kiba and Akamaru's initial fear towards Hoyuki due to her dangerous and alien scent as well as her capacity for savage violence, Shikamaru nodded to them before saying, "As troublesome as it is to try and be friends with that girl, avoiding Naruto even when we used to hang out together is even more of a drag."

Chuckling at Shikamaru's statement, Chouji said, "Yeah, it certainly is troublesome."

Scene Change

"You seem unusually happy."

Blinking, Shino turned his attention to his father, Aburame Shibi, and asked, "Is that so?"

Nodding, the moustached man with short spiky hair asked, "Did something pleasant happen at school?"

Seeing no logic in denying his father, Shino explained about his conversation with Hoyuki earlier that day. Shibi was surprised at the revelation as he raised both of his eyebrows over his own sunglasses, which is the Aburame equivalent of gaping in wide-eyed amazement. After Shino finished informing his father, Shibi said, "I see, that information you gleaned from her was indeed most enlightening. Am I correct in assuming that you are… starting to develop an interest in her?"

Blushing slightly at that statement, Shino replied, "I… do find her to be an interesting and understanding person." Feeling apprehensive, Shino asked, "Will that be a problem, father?"

Pondering for a moment, Shibi then replied, "No, I see no issue in your pursuit of a friendship with her. As for anything further beyond that point, you will need to find out for yourself if she sees you that way as well."

Relieved that his father did not disapprove, Shino bowed and replied, "Thank you father." Rising from the bow, Shino asked, "May I excuse myself?"

Nodding, Shibi watched his son leave the room before silently instructing his kikaichuu to send a message to the Hokage about Shino's encounter with Hoyuki and the information he had gained from her. While Hoyuki did inform the Hokage everything she knew about her species, it never hurts to use new data to check for any inconsistencies as well as update their information about the Xenomorph species. The emotional range of the Xenomorphs for example is certainly new information even for the Hokage and perhaps Hoyuki's own brother of sorts as well. Thinking about it made Shibi remember an earlier discovery which confirmed that Naruto did indeed somehow gain Hoyuki's bloodline, most likely due to being her host when she was still a larval parasitoid alien. While he lacked her physical traits, he would nevertheless be able to theoretically utilize any ninja techniques which are based on her "bloodline". When asked how it could be possible, Hoyuki almost sheepishly admitted, "_Host always die, never knew it could happen._"

Smiling slightly underneath the tall collar of his coat, Shibi silently hoped that Shino will get along well with Hoyuki and her "hive". While the potential of marrying a member of the Aburame clan with Hoyuki is logically desirable even by itself, a reasonable chance for his son to be truly happily married is something which any loving father would desire.

Scene Change

Naruto was feeling a little ambivalent as Shino approached him, Hinata and Hoyuki on the following day. While he never had any problems with the Aburame boy before, the idea that he was getting interested in Hoyuki made him feel a little protective over her. Of course, Hoyuki knew of it as well and made it clear that it was ultimately her decision to accept or reject him as a potential mate. Despite having no say in the matter, Naruto took consolation in the fact that she was at least not interested in Sasuke despite his interest in her, albeit as a rival. The mere idea of having Sasuke as a brother in law made his stomach queasy.

Smiling, Hoyuki greeted Shino, "_Hello, Hive-Shino._"

"Hello, Hoyuki-san," replied the Aburame boy before he greeted the other two children and took a seat beside Hoyuki, thus making Naruto glare at him a bit. Noticing the glare, Hoyuki frowned at Naruto with a slight pout which silently said, "Brother, be nice." Unable to argue with his sister over the matter, Naruto looked away petulantly. The nonverbal exchange did not go unnoticed though as Hinata suppressed a giggle while Shino was actually smirking slightly beneath his tall collar.

Suddenly, a loud boisterous voice yelled, "Hey, Naruto!"

Facing the person who yelled, who was none other than Kiba, the four children watched in surprise as the wild boy, Shikamaru and Chouji approached them. Looking at the three, Naruto asked, "Hey guys, what brings you three here?"

"What? Can't hang out with us now that you got a sister and a girlfriend?"

Blushing at Kiba's teasing, Naruto protested, "Hey!"

Sighing at the two, Shikamaru explained, "While it'll be troublesome to get to know your sister, who can actually scare me almost as badly as my mom, not hanging out with you anymore is even more troublesome."

Realizing that Shikamaru meant that the three boys still want to hang out with him, Naruto grinned and happily let them join. Taking a seat on the grass with the other four children, the three boys noticed Hoyuki gazing at Chouji, or more accurately his bag of potato chips, with interest. Realizing that Hoyuki was interested, Chouji asked, "Do you… want to try some?"

Hearing Chouji's offer, Hoyuki immediately nodded in response. Seeing the similarity between her responses with Akamaru's whenever Chouji was snacking on bacon, the boy offered a few chips to Hoyuki. Taking the chips, Hoyuki sniffed at them before taking a small bite. Surprised by the crispy texture and salty flavour, Hoyuki said, "_Different._"

"Wait, those were your first potato chips?"

Nodding, to Chouji's comical shock, Hoyuki explained, "_Many people not like me or brother, hard to get food from shop. Hunt often._"

Interested, Kiba asked, "So where do you and Naruto hunt?"

"_Many places, like Forest of Death best, meat tasty there._"

"Wait, you and Naruto actually hunt in the Forest of Death?" asked a shocked Kiba. He may love running wild in the surrounding forests but even he knew better than go there.

Nodding, Hinata said, "T-they do."

"Do I even want to know who I should feel sorry for?" asked Shikamaru.

"Y-you better not." Hinata shuddered at the memory of that bear which tried to attack her only to be killed by Hoyuki's Shadow Burster technique which literally tore it apart from the inside by burrowing into its body. That is not even considering the way Hoyuki and even Naruto slaughtered the dead animals, which they did with disturbingly calm efficiently as they took out bloody internal organs with their own bare hands. Had it not been for her hunger and the delicious scent of roasted meat, Hinata would have no doubt been unable to eat any meat and may even choose to become a vegetarian.

Seeing Hinata's expression, the other four boys wisely decided to change the subject as Chouji asked, "So, what kind of meat you like best?"

Reaching to her upper back underneath her rags, Hoyuki suddenly took out a large piece of roasted boar's ribs and said, "_Wild boar, especially ribs._"

Staring at the honeyed meat which somehow appeared to be freshly-roasted, Kiba, Akamaru and Chouji were drooling while a surprised Shino asked, "Where do you keep that?"

Smiling impishly, Hoyuki replied, "_Ninja secret._"

Seeing the other boys turn their attention towards him, Naruto raised his hands and said, "Don't ask because I still have no idea how she does it either."

Scene Change

After eating lunch together with Naruto, Shino, Hinata and Hoyuki, the three boys agreed that Hoyuki was less frightening than they first imagined her to be, "partly" due to the simple fact that the tailed girl willingly shared her roasted pork ribs with them. Shikamaru, while more wary of her than the other two boys, was willing to admit that his own mother was still undisputedly scarier than Hoyuki which earned their good-natured snickers.

"So, are you two coming for that hunting trip?" asked Kiba. Hoyuki and Naruto had invited everyone to join them for some hunting in one of the safer forested areas over the weekend. Hinata and Shino of course agreed to join them while Kiba himself wanted a chance to have some fun and show off his skills.

Sighing, Shikamaru replied, "That mostly depends on my mom. Knowing her, she would want me to stay home and help her with the housework or something."

Unwilling to leave his best friend behind, Chouji said, "I'll be staying back too if Shikamaru can't join you guys."

Knowing the close friendship between the two boys, to the point some of the girls in class even had strange ideas about them, Kiba grinned and said to Shikamaru, "If it's about your mom, don't worry about it! I'll try and get my mom and nee-chan to persuade your mom to let you let you join us."

Sighing, Shikamaru gazed heavenwards towards the clouds and muttered, "If I go with them, I'll be forced to help them hunt and make camp. If I stay behind, I'll be forced to help my mom, which is arguably worse. So troublesome…"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Looks like it's going to be Hoyuki X Shino in this fanfiction. As for the Xenomorph castes, all of them are based on what I have found out from the Wiki with some "personal" adjustments for some of them. And yes, I do at least have a vague idea of the many alien races from many different series (I left out Star Trek as many of them were too human-like and I gave the Xenomorphs many different names based on similar alien species from different series, other space-faring alien races must have met them and named them differently after all). As for anyone who wonder about the Horror genre, as it is apparently somewhat lacking in that regard unless you consider Hoyuki's alien origins and oddities to be frightening enough by themselves, let's just say the darker parts of later chapters (not sure how long, but I'm getting there) will justify it and leave it at that (just hope I won't need to raise the rating to Mature when I do). Hope this satisfies any question or dissatisfactions you may have and feel free to guess what will happen when that time comes and provide reviews/feedbacks.


	6. Chapter 5

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 5: Survival Trip**

Although Naruto and Hoyuki had invited everyone to join them on a hunting trip during the weekend, their weekend-plan never came through as their entire class is currently taking part in a survival training session which would last for three days and two nights in one of the forests within the walls of Konohagakure led by their academy teachers. Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto was excited to finally show everyone other than Hoyuki, Anko and Hinata his skills as a hunter, which is actually not too different from a prankster or a ninja if you look at it from a certain perspective.

Standing before the gathered students, Iruka said, "Alright everyone, remember everything that we had taught you in the academy. You're going to need them for this survival lesson. Also, please do not hesitate to ask for assistance from any of us should you have any problems as we would be happy to help you." Naruto almost snorted at the last part as he knew all too well that only Iruka would actually help him, not that it matters anymore now that he has learnt the necessary skills and more from Hoyuki.

"…Now, feel free to choose who you will be with during the trip but do not form groups of more than seven," announced Iruka. Both Naruto and Hoyuki grinned as their group of friends had just the right number. The two of them wasted no time as they quickly gathered their friends…

Scene Change

Ten minutes, and a whole lot of arguing between the "Sasuke fangirls" later, the two Uzumaki siblings had gathered the others to form a completed group of seven. Grinning, Kiba asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"_Lazy-Shadow plan for camp, sister help Lazy-Shadow find good place for camp, Hungry-Belly help Lazy-Shadow and sister make camp, brother and I hunt, Hive-Shino and Wild-Fang can choose who to help. Best make camp secure._"

Blinking at Hoyuki's suggestion, Shikamaru groaned a moment later as he translated, "In other words, I am in charge of making the camp with Hinata's and Chouji's help while Hoyuki and Naruto go hunting. Kiba and Shino can choose to help either group. What a drag…"

Now understanding what Hoyuki was saying, Kiba said, "Well, why didn't you say that earlier? I'm definitely in for the hunting!"

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino said, "I believe it would be best that we first find out if Shikamaru needs our help or not."

"Oh, come on man! It's just propping up a few tents, how hard can it be?"

"You do realize that Hoyuki just called Shikamaru, Lazy-Shadow?"

Snickering, Kiba replied to Shino, "Ok, you got me there, but I'm still going to join Naruto and Hoyuki to hunt for some dinner, got to have enough to feed everyone, including Hungry-Belly."

Dismayed at the friendly teasing, Chouji cried, "Hey, I can't help feeling hungry!"

Sighing, Shikamaru said, "Well, Kiba will be more help in finding food with that nose of his and Akamaru at any rate." Turning his attention to Shino, he said, "As for you, I think it would be a good idea for you to help us out. We could use the extra manpower and your insects may be of help to us."

Nodding, Shino replied, "Very well, I shall endeavour to help you the best I can."

With that, the group of seven children split into two teams, one to prepare their camp and another to hunt and forage for dinner. While Shikamaru's team sought for a place to set up camp, Naruto's team informed Iruka that they will set off to find dinner.

Nodding in understanding, Iruka pointed and said, "There is a river that way. You can get water and fish from there."

"_What about mammal, bird and reptile meat?_" asked Hoyuki.

"Well, you kids will have to find those on your own. Just don't wander too far and be sure not to eat any plants or mushrooms you see until I or another teacher at least has a look at them. Can't have you kids eat anything poisonous."

Nodding in understanding, the three children quickly set off to find the river, following Iruka's directions. As soon as they found the river, Kiba shouted, "Alright, first one to get a fish eats the alpha's share!"

Taking off his shirt, the boy was about to dive into the river with Akamaru to catch some fish when Hoyuki told them, "_Stop, I hunt fish. Wild-Fang and brother find other food._"

Looking at the girl, Kiba was about to argue when Naruto explained, "Hoyuki's tail is really fast. She can use it to get fish for us."

Remembering how fast Hoyuki's tail could move, Kiba nodded and said, "Ok then." Turning his attention to Naruto, Kiba grinned and said, "So, who do you think will be top dog of hunting?"

Grinning, Naruto boasted, "I may lose to Hoyuki-chan but I'm definitely a better hunter than you." Crouching low as though ready to pounce, Naruto added, "Better have Akamaru help you out, you're going to need it!"

"Bring it!"

With that, the two boys went their separate ways to find food while Hoyuki almost sighed at their antics and proceeded to get into the river. Using her tail, Hoyuki quickly whipped and speared some fishes for dinner…

Scene Change

An hour had passed since Naruto's group had left when a crisis occurred in Shikamaru's group. Chouji was feeling hungry and did not have anything to eat. Hearing the near-constant rumblings of Chouji's belly, Shino was feeling almost annoyed as he mused, "Well, at least Chouji's not complaining about it, much." While the large boy did not complain much verbally, his pained forlorn expression was clear enough an indication that he really needs to eat something.

"_Need food?_"

Everyone in Shikamaru's grouped turned their attention to Hoyuki who was carrying an impressive assortment of fishes. Staring at the girl, Chouji's eyes practically sparkled as he nodded vigorously in affirmation. Smirking at his friend, Shikamaru told Hoyuki, "You could say that."

Wearing a small smile, Hoyuki handed the fishes to Hinata who quickly proceeded to clean and scale one of them while Chouji wasted no time to prepare a campfire. Noticing that Naruto and Kiba are not with Hoyuki, Shino asked her, "Where are those two?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained, "_Compete._"

Now understanding what was going on, both Shikamaru and Shino sighed in unison as they knew that it would take a while for the two to get back, assuming that they did not get lost or bite more than they can chew. Placing his hand onto his forehead, Shikamaru groaned, "Those two are so troublesome sometimes…" Shino meanwhile released his Kikaichuu and instructed them to spread out to find the two troublemakers.

Knowing what Shino was doing, Hoyuki nodded appreciatively as she spoke, "_I find brother. Wild-Fang has puppy to help if lost._"

"Alright, but be sure to return here before sundown. We may be within the walls of Konohagakure but it never hurts to be safe," replied Shino.

Smiling Hoyuki replied, "_True, but dark is where I belong._" She then disappeared in a puff of strangely black smoke...

Scene Change

Fortunately, nothing bad occurred to either boy who returned not long after Shino's insects found them, unless you count Kiba's pride. While Kiba managed to catch a rabbit, Naruto somehow managed to catch a rabbit as well as gather several kinds of edible plants, nuts, berries and mushrooms. Hoyuki on the other hand managed to find a tree with ripe fruits while searching for Naruto and wasted no time to gather some on the way back to camp. Scowling at Naruto's impressive assortment of food, Kiba muttered, "I'm so going to beat you one of these days, Naruto."

Grinning for ear to ear, Naruto replied, "Dream on, dog boy."

Hearing Akamaru whine, Kiba comforted the puppy, "Hey, don't worry buddy, we'll get even with Naruto one of these days."

"Say, are these for dinner or can we have some right now?" asked Chouji. The fishes Hinata cooked were delicious and he would have helped himself with some more had she not made it clear that the others will want their share as well. Although always hungry for food, Chouji is not the type to leave others starving or deprived of food, not even to enjoy the last portion which he claims is always the tastiest.

"They're for dinner, so wait until dinnertime," deadpanned the two boys Chouji asked.

A little disappointed, Chouji said, "Alright, just asking."

Hinata giggled at the interaction between the three boys while Hoyuki shook her head with a small smile on her face. Shino's own smile was hidden behind the tall collar of his jacket while Shikamaru smirked at his best friend's apparently bottomless pit of a stomach. Passing Chouji a fruit, she said, "_Not much but will do until dinner._"

"Thanks!" replied an appreciative Chouji before taking a big bit out of the fruit.

Observing the seven children was Iruka who smiled at their antics and knew who he will hang out with when dinnertime arrives…

Scene Change

Before long, it was sundown and, with the assortment of ingredients the three hunter-gatherers managed to obtain and Hinata's cooking with Chouji's help, the seven children in Naruto's group enjoyed a good dinner. Their private feast did not go unnoticed as everyone around them noted the smell of Hinata's good cooking, to the ire of those who expected if not hoped that Naruto's group would fail. Sasuke's group, which mainly consisted of the Uchiha boy and six fangirls, on the other hand did not fare as well as expected, mostly because the fangirls knew little about hunting and gathering for food. Sasuke on the other hand at least knew how to take care of himself but had no interest in helping the others. How the fangirls, including Sakura, Ino and Ami, still fail to realize that Sasuke just had no interest in them was anyone's guess.

Sitting with the seven children was Iruka as he praised Hinata's cooking, "That roasted rabbit you made was really good, Hinata." The other six children nodded in appreciative agreement with him.

Blushing at their praise, Hinata said, "T-thank you, b-but it's really Naruto-kun, Kiba-san and Hoyuki-chan that found everything I prepared for dinner a-and Chouji-san helped a lot too."

Grinning, Kiba playfully quipped, "Which is quite surprising. I was sure he would try to sneak a bite or two while helping Hinata cook."

Looking offended, Chouji argued, "Hey, I may love eating good food but even I know that cooking needs lots of attention, dedication and discipline!"

Blinking at the large boy's statement, Naruto then deadpanned, "You know, if you had put that kind of effort in becoming a ninja, you'd probably beat even Sasuke-teme."

"Like you did any better than him until Hoyuki helped you out," said an equally deadpan Shikamaru. The other three boys nodded in agreement with Shikamaru.

"Hey!"

Chuckling, Iruka then asked, "So, who's up for a good horror story?"

Cringing in fear, Naruto nervously asked, "D-do we have to?"

Smirking at the boy, Kiba asked, "Why, scared of a ghosts?"

Blushing, Naruto lied, "O-of course not! I-I'm just worried that Hoyuki-chan will get scared, that's all!"

"Right…" drawled Kiba who was obviously taking pleasure in Naruto's growing discomfort.

Turning his attention to Hoyuki, Shino asked, "Are you scared of ghosts?"

Shaking her head, despite Naruto's pleading expression to play along with his lie, Hoyuki explained, "_No, curious about ghost story._"

With his fate now sealed, Naruto silently whined, "T-traitor…!"

"Right, let me gather the other students and we can all tell each other horror stories!"

"No…!"

Scene Change

Iruka was grinning at the students who had gathered around the fire as he asked, "Alright, which one of you has a scary story to tell?" It was apparent that Iruka's mischievous side from his old days as a prankster was starting to show.

Naruto, who was a nervous mess, was fearfully expecting a sleepless night when Hoyuki offered, "_I have many._"

Not expecting Hoyuki's offer to tell a scary story, Iruka and the other teachers then realized to their horror that Hoyuki was referring to the nightmarishly bloody history of her original race. Shino quickly caught on as well as he spoke, "You mean to tell us about your kind, don't you?"

Nodding, Hoyuki asked, "_Is it a problem?_"

"Well… it's not really a ghost story," said Kiba. While he may no longer see Hoyuki as a monster, her original kin is another matter altogether.

"But it's a scary story so it still counts, right?" asked Naruto. It was apparent that he is less frightened of Xenomorphs than ghosts.

Looking at the other teachers, who more or less begged him not to let her, Iruka sighed and said, "Well, I suppose we can let Hoyuki tell us her story just for tonight." Like it or not, Iruka and the other teachers still have an obligation to the Hokage to obtain any information they can get about the Xenomorphs.

Nodding, Hoyuki said, "_Alright…_"

Scene Change

_When humanity first discovered the Xenomorphs, by discovering an ancient Yautja pyramid which was used to breed them by using sacrificial human hosts, they were divided between those than wanted to exterminate the deadly aliens and those that wanted to enslave them for research, especially bioweapons research. Ultimately, the humans that wanted to enslave the Xenomorphs won humanity's internal struggle for decision. Led by Yutani Cooperation, the humans captured and imprisoned the Xenomorphs for their research in specialized space ports designed to keep any outbreak isolated from humanity's home world._

_It is within these space ports where the humans carried out many experiments upon the Xenomorphs, including inhumane ones. Among the tests which humans did upon the Xenomorphs include studying Xenomorph behaviour and intellect, studying Xenomorph-based products such as their hive webbing, corrosive blood and royal jelly, materials testing to create Xenomorph acid-proof equipment, weapons testing to effectively disable or kill Xenomorphs, testing the effectiveness of the humans' war-droids against Xenomorph swarms, studying the mysteries of a Xenomorph's hive-mind and, horrific even by Xenomorph standards, the creation of Xeno-Human hybrid super-soldiers._

_Realizing that Xenomorphs can adapt the traits of their hosts into their own genome, the humans attempted to create hybrids by inserting Xenomorph genes into human embryos. The results are ghastly as many of the test subjects usually end up developing abnormal deformities and die from them. After repeated failures, the humans decided to try a second method which is to insert human genes into Xenomorph embryos while still continuing the first project with human embryos. As the Xenomorph embryos are easy to extract from their spider-like carriers, once they had the tools necessary to cut them open despite their corrosive blood, and have better genetic adaptability than their human counterparts, the embryos could theoretically have a better chance of successful hybridization. As predicted, the Xenomorph samples were more successful as they successfully developed into malformed but otherwise living hybrid subjects. However, as the "pureblood" Xenomorphs considered the hybrids as mutations which must be purged, the hybrids had to be kept separate from the imprisoned hives and even each other. Learning from the success of the second method, the humans were able to successfully create hybrids, equally malformed as they may be, with the first method. While weaker than the other type of hybrids, they were noted to be smarter as they are capable of relatively advanced learning._

_After studying the two hybrid species and creating more stable hybrids, the humans decided to attempt bringing the "two halves" together, which is basically enforced breeding like cattle. This would prove to be their undoing as the third type of hybrids, the true Xeno-Sapiens, possessed the hive-mind and physical abilities of the Xenomorphs along with the intellect and ingenuity of the humans. Able to somehow make an agreement with the pureblood Xenomorphs and the other types of hybrids, the Xeno-Sapiens broke free from their prisons and killed all the humans inside alongside with their allies. Predicting that the purebloods will try to kill them, the Xeno-Sapiens and their fellow hybrid allies abandoned them to perish in the doomed space port while they proceeded to invade the humans' home world, intent on claiming it as their own._

_Most disturbing however is the simple fact that an egg from the doomed vessel was somehow brought to another world, a world where ninjas act as hired mercenaries, law enforcers and even soldiers of war. A world where the egg would hatch to grow and develop into a being similar to the Xeno-Sapiens hybrids in appearance, a being known as Uzumaki Hoyuki…_

Scene Change

"…_And that ends my scary story._"

After hearing Hoyuki's tale, made worse by the graphic images she had implanted into their minds via telepathy, many of the students were utterly traumatized. Even the Chuunin teachers, mid-ranked ninjas tasked with the duty of teaching the next generation of ninjas, were horrified as some of the things they saw would make even the members of the Konohagakure's Torture and Interrogation Unit sick. The most disturbing aspect of Hoyuki's story however is the simple fact that that the worst deeds were not committed by the savage Xenomorphs but by the humans of her home universe.

Somehow able to keep himself from retching, Iruka shakily said, "W-well… that is a scary story alright… I think it'd be best if we turn in for the night." No one bothered to argue against the idea as they went back to their camps and hoped that they would not be assaulted by nightmares. Sadly, for most of the students and teachers, their hopes would be in vain. Ironically enough, Naruto was hardly even disturbed by the story, as he had already heard of it before from Hoyuki. Needless to say, almost no one in their class would ever dare to ask Hoyuki to tell scary campfire stories ever again…

Scene Change

Like many of the other students and a number of teachers, Hinata was unable to sleep soundly due to Hoyuki's nightmarish story. Looking at the peacefully sleeping tailed girl who was currently snuggling against her like a puppy, Hinata could hardly believe that she was friends with the most disturbing person she had ever known. True, Hoyuki was already disturbingly odd as an individual back then but Hinata just assumed that it was because she was an alien monster which somehow became human which, while true, barely scratched the surface of the horrors her kind both committed and suffered. Hinata shuddered at the memory of how the humans of Hoyuki's home universe could so callously mistreat the Xenomorphs and even the hybrids, not that she can really blame them for viewing the Xenomorphs as monsters.

Feeling Hoyuki hugging her more closely, Hinata stroked her hair which was somehow calming for both girls. Seeing Hoyuki snuggle against her, Hinata sighed and mused, "No matter how strange and terrifying Hoyuki-chan is, she's still one of my precious people and I won't stop being her friend just because of the memories she remembers from her original race."

Having made her decision, Hinata was able to sleep better as she embraced Hoyuki and quickly dozed off, somehow able to avoid getting nightmares…

Scene Change

Meanwhile, in the boys' tent belonging to Naruto's group, the only occupant that was sleeping was Naruto who was snoring with a bubble of snot on his nose. Glaring at the peacefully sleeping blond boy with red-rimmed eyes, Kiba growled, "Remind me to punch him in the nut-sacks the next time he suggests letting Hoyuki tell a scary story." The other three boys and one puppy, unable to sleep due to the story Hoyuki had told them, all nodded in mutual agreement…

Scene Change

The following morning was a beautiful one, at least for people that were not sleep-deprived. Loudest to complain were Ino and Sakura as they moaned and groaned at waking up from their restless sleep. Being plagued by nightmares of the Xenomorphs, the hideously malformed hybrids and the inhuman experiments will do that to almost anyone except for a rare few including a certain snake-sage traitor.

Stretching his body, Naruto then grinned and said loudly, "Now this is what I call a beautiful morning!"

"Naruto, SHUT UP!" screeched Sakura. Naruto instinctively flinched at her infuriated tone and, when he saw her, her terrifying morning appearance with dark rings under her red eyes and wild hair. When he noticed that just about everyone, especially Hibachi, looked equally awful, Naruto knew that it was because of Hoyuki's scary story. When he first heard that story from her, he was unable to sleep for almost two nights straight.

Holding her ears, Ino groaned, "Please, not so loud. You're making my head hurt…"

Sasuke, who was also sleep-deprived, simply glared daggers at Naruto as if to say, "I am so going to hurt you for suggesting that Hoyuki tells us s scary story!" While it was not the first time Sasuke had suffered insomnia, due to his admittedly traumatic past, it was certainly the first time he felt any actual horror in a long while since then.

Grinning nervously, Naruto said, "Um, bad night?"

"You think?" asked Kiba as he dragged himself out of the tent.

"Hoyuki's story was indeed most disturbing."

Rolling his eyes at Shino's statement, Kiba said, "Understatement of the year."

"That story has several levels and varieties of troublesome…" groused Shikamaru. For the lazy boy, being forced to wake up and do any work while sleep-deprived is most certainly unpleasant.

Rubbing his belly, Chouji said, "Hey, think we can have some breakfast and then go back to sleep?"

Next to appear were the two girls in Naruto's group who obviously fared better than Sakura and Ino. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hinata sleepily greeted everyone, "Good morning…"

Tilting her head to get a better look at everyone, Hoyuki asked innocently, "_Did everyone sleep well?_"

Glaring at the tailed girl, Sakura screamed loud enough to actually startle the guards of a neighbouring ninja village called Sunagakure, "Does it LOOK like we slept well?"

Covering her ears from the resounding yell, Hoyuki then looked at the girl, and everyone else who looked just as awful or worse, and felt sheepish as she replied, "_No, my bad._"

Groaning from the lack of sleep and Sakura's screaming, Iruka turned his attention to Hoyuki and said, "Hoyuki, for the love of the Will of Fire, don't ever tell scary stories ever again."

Scene Change

Although almost everyone was sleep-deprived, the survival training for the day continued as normal on the grounds that ninjas would have to be able to functional even when tired. Not surprisingly, the day started off rather poorly for the students and even some of the teachers as they struggled against sleep deprivation. Due to the situation, Iruka prudently requested aid from a nearby team of Konohagakure ninjas to help with the class session while he set off to report about Hoyuki's scary story to the Hokage. Unfortunately, the day just became weirder for the students as a certain pair made their appearance…

Scene Change

"Good morning everyone, my name is Might Guy and today I shall be helping your teachers guide you all onto the path of Youth!"

Staring at the man with a shiny-black bowl-shaped haircut, shiny white teeth and the biggest eyebrows the students had ever seen, who is also dressed in a green spandex with a typical Konohagakure jounin vest over it as well as orange-coloured leg warmers, the man known as Might Guy as a shocking sight to the students. Equally shocking was the sight of a boy a year older than the students who looked almost exactly the same as Guy except that he lacked the vest and had smaller but still ridiculously bushy eyebrows as well as round eyes.

Gaping at the sight, Sakura muttered, "This has to be a genjutsu… or a nightmare my sleepy brain came up with…"

"If you're seeing a freaky pair in green spandex, it must be a genjutsu because I'm seeing it too…" said Ino. The two girls then formed a handseal to cast an illusion-cancelling ninja technique, "Kai."

Seeing that the two people had yet to disappear, both girls realized to their dismay and horror that they are indeed real. "What did I ever do to deserve this…?" moaned Sakura.

Blinking at the two newcomers, Hoyuki asked, "_Are they… like me?_"

Comically horrified, Naruto asked, "Whatever gave you that idea?" Even Shino looked clearly worried.

Pointing at Guy and his apparent clone, Hoyuki elaborated, "_Missing link to alien species._"

Now understanding what Hoyuki meant, Naruto took a look at the spandex-wearing pair, paying special attention to their bushy eyebrows, haircuts and shiny teeth, and said, "Now that you mention it, I wonder…"

"Now, to begin this beautiful morning, we shall start off with a light warm-up to ignite your Flames of Youth followed by foraging for everything we need to survive this beautiful day!" It was apparent that Guy had no volume control.

"As expected from Guy-sensei!" shouted the young lookalike.

Grinning, Guy gave a thumb's up and said, "Lee!"

Giving his teacher a thumb's up as well, the boy named Rock Lee replied, "Guy-sensei!"

The students could only stare in shock as the morning atmosphere of the forest somehow changed into a sunset at the beach with frothy seawater crashing against the cliffs. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto asked, "How did we end up in the beach?"

Blinking owlishly, Hoyuki said, "_Must be genjutsu._" Even with the millennia of memories her original kind possessed, across thousands of alien worlds, the sight of the two and their "Sunset of Youth" was one of the strangest things she had ever witnessed.

Slapping his palm onto his face, Shikamaru just knew the day would be awful as he groaned, "Troublesome…!"

While the students were distracted by the "Sunset of Youth", a Hyuuga genin with long dark-brown hair and pale-grey eyes named Hyuuga Neji sighed while a girl with her long dark-brown hair tied into two buns and brown eyes named Tenten rolled her eyes at the sight. Members of a ninja team called Team Guy, the two genin have been exposed to their "eccentric" jounin instructor and genin teammate on an almost daily basis and are thus somewhat used to it although they still find their antics embarrassing.

"Tell me again why we took this mission?" asked Tenten.

"Because almost every parent in the class wanted bodyguards to protect their children from Uzumaki Hoyuki, whom they call the blade-tailed demon, and you wanted to earn an A-ranked pay from completing this multiple D to C-ranked guard duty mission," replied Neji. As the Hokage lacked both the manpower and interest to assign a team for each child in almost the entire class, he decided to just assign the missions to only one team which just happened to be Team Guy.

Remembering the reason why they took the mission, Tenten sighed and said, "Yeah, I remember now." While not a greedy girl, Tenten appreciated good pay more than either of her teammates as she needed the money to maintain her veritable armoury of hidden weapons.

"Well, it appears that fate has decreed that our team will have to help the academy instructors with the survival training. Might as well as get it over with."

Looking at Neji, who seemed less cold and more open compared to before, Tenten could not help but wonder if it had anything to do with Hinata being with Naruto and Hoyuki. While he may still be "bound to fate", but he seems a little less resentful about it than before and even tried to joke about it, which frankly shocked her silly when she heard it for the first time. Nodding, Tenten said, "Yeah, and we better stop those two before we get any more spandex-clad ninjas." Both Neji and Tenten shuddered at the thought.

Seeing the approaching pair, Hinata quickly recognized Neji and greeted him, "G-good morning, Neji-niisama." Like her relationship with her father, her relationship with her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, had improved ever since that day when Naruto and Hoyuki snuck into the Hyuuga compound to defend her. While Neji declined to answer when she asked why, Hinata suspected it had something to do with her father finally confessing to her about Neji's father, Hizashi. Born mere moments after Hiashi was born, Hizashi was damned to live as a member of the branch clan and bore the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead as a result. While initially close, the two brothers drifted apart when Hiashi personally applied the same seal onto Neji and even used the seal against Hizashi when he felt resentful at the fact that Neji will never be able to reach his full potential due to his status as a branch member of the Hyuuga clan. However, despite hating the main branch for his family's cruel fate, Hizashi wanted to make up for his resentment towards Hiashi and his family and thus willingly accepted to die in Hiashi's place during a kidnapping incident known as the Hyuuga Affair. However, Neji never knew of it and thus believed that his father was forced to die in Hiashi's place, making him resentful towards the main branch including Hinata, the victim of the kidnapping by Kumogakure agents. In Hiashi's defence, he never told Neji the truth of the Hyuuga Affair as he felt that the boy would never believe him, a fact which he admitted to Hinata.

Bowing in return, Neji replied, "Hello, Hinata-sama." As Hinata suspected, Neji did indeed somehow managed to find out the truth when Hiashi confessed to her. While he still resents the main branch and believes that a person's destiny is written in stone, he no longer held resentment towards Hinata or Hiashi, at least not as much as before. Looking at the sleep-deprived students and teachers, Neji asked, "I assume it has something to do with Hoyuki-san's scary story last night?"

"Y-you could say that." Looking at the girl, Hinata asked, "I-is she your teammate?"

Nodding, Tenten replied, "Yup, my name's Tenten by the way." Glancing at Guy and Lee, she added, "Guy-sensei is our jounin instructor and his younger clone is out third teammate, Rock Lee."

Bowing politely, Hinata greeted Tenten, "I-it is my pleasure to meet you, Tenten-san." Looking at Lee and Guy, Hinata dared to ask, "I-is that why you rarely speak about your team, Neji-niisama?"

Sighing, Neji replied, "That's certainly one reason."

"Ah, there are my two adorable students!" exclaimed Guy. Approaching his two remaining students, Guy looked at Hinata and the rest of the group and said, "And you must be Neji's cousin, Hinata!" Seeing Hinata nod timidly, Guy then turned his attention to Hoyuki who was staring at him and asked, "And you must be Uzumaki Hoyuki whom I had heard so much about recently!"

"_Yes._" Tilting her head, Hoyuki then asked, "_Are you an alien like me?_"

After a stunned moment of awkward silence, Guy then wore his grin to reveal teeth which almost blinded everyone with its shine and replied, "No, but I am the handsome Green Beast of Konohagakure and a firm believer in the mighty Flames of Youth!"

Peering at the man, Naruto silently deadpanned, "Right…"

"Anyway, as your team's Flames of Youth is burning the brightest at the moment, I was hoping that you could help gather some food to prepare breakfast." Shaking his head, Guy added, "The other teams are lacking in youthfulness at the moment and would need to eat and rest to bring back the spark of their flames." In layman's terms, Naruto's team appeared the most ready to hunt and gather for food as Naruto, Hinata and Hoyuki are not sleep-deprived unlike the other teams.

Grinning, Naruto said, "Sure, but we could use some help to get enough for everyone." One thing which Naruto learnt from living with Hoyuki is that working as a team is always better than working alone in most situations.

Pleased, Guy said, "Glad to see your Youthful Flames burning bright and early!" Turning his attention to his students, he said, "Alright, you three follow Naruto and his sister to help them gather food. Try to come back as soon as possible as we will need a hearty breakfast to start the day!"

Saluting, Lee said, "Understood, Guy-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Guy-sensei!"

Peering at the two, Hoyuki had to ask, "_They do that often?_"

"Like you wouldn't believe it…!" groused Tenten.

Eager to get away from the strange duo, well, at least one of them anyway, Naruto loudly said, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get some food!" Not waiting for a reply, the blond boy promptly dashed out of camp followed by Hoyuki who obviously shared his sentiment about the two spandex-clad ninjas.

Looking at the two departed children, Lee grinned and said, "Yosh! I shall endeavour to catch up with them and gather more food than they can, failing in which I shall do a thousand push-ups!" Lee then dashed off to follow the two Uzumaki siblings while Neji and Tenten sighed before following him.

Scene Change

Naruto and Hoyuki were still busy putting some distance between themselves with Guy when they saw a green blur run past them. Blinking, Naruto asked, "Was that…?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied, "_Bushy-Brows, fast._" Lee's speed would be able to easily keep up with hers.

"Lee might be weird but he's the fastest in our team," explained Tenten as she and Neji caught up with them.

Turning around, Hoyuki asked, "_Bushy-Brows learn speed from Mega-Brows?_"

Initially confused by the odd naming, Tenten snorted as she realized that the tailed girl had just called Lee Bushy-Brows while Guy was called Mega-Brows. After controlling her mirth, which Neji must have felt as well judging from his slight smirk and strained self-control, Tenten said, "You could say that."

"We best continue our search. While I'm not interested in competing with Lee, I'm even less keen to dally while we have a job to do," said Neji.

Nodding, everyone set off to hunt for breakfast…

Scene Change

"Naruto, do I even want to know how you and Hoyuki-san managed to find a wild boar this big?" asked Shino. While searching for food, Neji saw the wild boar which Hoyuki promptly decided to kill by first crippling one of its front legs with her bladed tail while she ran around it on all fours followed by leaping onto the thrashing boar and viciously tearing off its throat with her own bare hands. Both Neji and Tenten were horrified by the effective but savagely brutal manner Hoyuki killed the boar, which Naruto claimed was her preferred method to kill large prey.

Still hardly believing that Hoyuki managed to kill a wild boar the size of at least two large men so easily, Neji explained, "I was the one who found it although I am quite curious about it myself."

Shrugging, Naruto replied, "I don't know, we usually find them in a Forest of Death. I'm kind of surprised to see one outside that forest too."

Blinking, Tenten asked, "Wait, you and your sister hunt in the Forest of Death?"

"_Lots of good meat there,_" explained Hoyuki.

Lee, who managed to gather an impressive collection of edible plants, nuts, berries and mushrooms, on the other hand was busy openly admiring the impressive catch despite the fact that he had clearly lost the self-proclaimed competition and the cringe-worthy gaping hole in its throat. Chouji, Kiba and Akamaru were also admiring the catch, albeit for the simple fact that the boar would make an awesome cooking ingredient.

Stretching his arms, Naruto said, "Well, we better get started. The sooner we start gutting it, the sooner we can start cooking and eating it!"

Realizing what Naruto and Hoyuki were about to do, Hinata wisely looked away and busied herself with preparing sliced fruits while the rest curiously watched. Many of them were soon looking away as Hoyuki proceeded to cut the boar's stomach open with her tail, allowing blood and its still-steaming internal organs to flow out of the cut. Reaching into the open wound with her bare hands, Hoyuki then carefully tore off the boar's liver and handed it over to Naruto who then placed it into a clean pot. The tailed girl then took out the boar's stomach and intestines which she quickly carried away to be discarded into a hole she will later prepare, the bloody intestines trailing behind her. Naruto meanwhile reached into the boar to take out its heart and other edible organs while discarding the unwanted organs for Hoyuki to collect and bury along with the stomach and intestines.

Staring at how the two children were efficiently butchering the wild boar, Lee's face was almost as green as his spandex while Kiba swore, "And we now know who we should feel sorry for when they enter the Forest of Death." Akamaru whined in agreement as it hid under Kiba's hood. Unlike most of the other children, Kiba had seen his clan slaughter animals to be fed to the Inuzuka clan's dogs and as such was used to it, although he never saw them slaughter an animal as large as that boar. Chouji, whose family is well known for their large appetites, also saw his clan slaughter before hence his lack of nausea. Sasuke on the other hand looked away as the blood and gore reminded him of his past which he could not bring himself to forget no matter how much a part of him wanted to.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino turned his attention to Hinata and noted, "This would explain why Hinata is looking away right now."

Looking at Hinata, whose back was turned towards the slaughtered animal, Kiba agreed with Shino, "Not that I can blame her."

Working efficiently without paying much attention to the generally sickened onlookers, the two Uzumaki siblings were able to quickly clean and prepare the wild boar for cooking. However, as cooking the boar would take time, everyone would have to wait until lunchtime to eat its cooked pork, not that many people felt hungry after the butchering they witnessed. Those unused to seeing such a sight, including Sakura and Ino, were especially affected as they lost any appetite to eat breakfast. Hinata, who at least had some experience from her first hunting trip in the Forest of Death, was able to bring herself to help Naruto and Hoyuki prepare lunch with pork as the main course. Chouji, who somehow revived from his sleep deprivation at the prospect of eating a delicious lunch, also helped with the cooking while Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru agreed to help with serving the food later as they tried to get some rest in the meantime. Team Guy on the other hand decided to continue helping Naruto's group by helping out with the preparations for lunchtime and gathering more ingredients…

Scene Change

Before long, it was time for lunch and, despite the grisly slaughter, everyone was hungry as Naruto's group, with the aid of Team Guy, was able to prepare a sumptuous feast which had many of them drooling. Among the dishes they prepared included roasted pork with crispy skin, pork soup, a fruit and herb salad with honey topping and fried fish. Ravenous, even the fangirls who usually eat very little to maintain a slim figure ate lunch with gusto, somehow momentarily forgetting the memory of how Hoyuki and Naruto butchered the wild boar.

Biting into a piece of roasted pork, Sakura chewed the meat and savoured the fatty flavour as she cried, "I'm so glad they prepared lunch for us!"

Swallowing her mouthful or salad, Ino agreed, "I was actually pretty hungry since yesterday, makes me almost regret dieting on this trip to keep my beautiful figure."

Grinning, Sakura said, "Well, you are piggy so I guess that's expected."

Angry, Ino proceeded to argue with Sakura which led to their typical squabbling.

Happily chewing onto some cartilage, Kiba said, "Man, I wish every meal was this good!" Akamaru, which was busy gnawing into a piece of boar knuckle-bone, yipped happily in agreement while Chouji nodded in full-hearted agreement. Grinning at Naruto, Kiba added, "Makes me kind of jealous of you having Hinata for a girlfriend."

Blushing, especially as an equally embarrassed Hinata was currently sitting closely beside him, Naruto protected, "Hey!"

Smirking, Shikamaru mused, "Relationships sure are troublesome…"

Smiling at the pleasant atmosphere, Iruka, who had returned from making his report said, "Well, don't relax just yet everyone. We still have the rest of today and another night to go before we finally return back home."

"I concur. It would be best to consider our next course of action until we finally return back to our homes," said Shino as he placed down his bowl of salad. Hoyuki meanwhile was eating her pork while sitting beside him.

"Indeed! While we should enjoy this wonderful feast to the fullest, we should nevertheless be prepared to overcome any difficulty that will befall upon us," agreed Guy.

"Yosh, as expected from Guy-sensei to guide us with his youthful wisdom!"

Before the two spandex-clad ninjas could proceed with their "Youthful Routine", Hoyuki quickly shoved her share of pork onto their hands and said in a mildly commanding tone, "_Less talk, more eat._" It was apparent that Hoyuki was trying to stop the pair from completing their routine, not that anyone can really blame her.

Tenten giggled at Hoyuki's cute attempt while Neji smirked and thought, "Well, it's a good try even though it's fated to fail." True to Neji's word, the two spandex-clad ninjas did their routine anyway, this time including "manly hugs and tears"…

Scene Change

Before the children realized it, the third day of the survival trip finally arrived without further incident and they were soon returning back home. Looking at the returning children from his vantage point on the rooftops, Hiruzen asked, "Well, what do you think about Hoyuki?"

Appearing beside the man were three individuals including a masked man with gravity-defying silver hair and a Konohagakure headband covering his left eye while his right eye had a black iris, a man with black hair and beard as well as brown eyes with a smoking cigarette in his mouth, and a young woman with black untamed hair, uniquely red eyes, purple eye-shadow and red lipstick. The first to speak was the silver-haired man as he spoke, "She is certainly an efficient if brutally savage killer. That wild boar Anko got for us was killed in moments once she decided to make it her meal. Even I would have to be cautious with her if she decides to kill me and I'm locked in a pure taijutsu match with her, especially with that bladed tail of hers."

Nodding, the bearded man added, "She's also disturbingly comfortable with blood and gore. Considering what she remembers from the extended memories of her original species, it's to be expected. That information Iruka got for us from her campfire horror story actually disturbed Inoichi AND Ibiki." As both men work in the Torture and Interrogation Unit, Yamanaka Inoichi working as a mind-reading interrogator who had delved into depraved minds and Morino Ibiki working as the head of the unit who is a "bit" of a sadist, scaring both men with just a story punctuated with images is quite a feat.

"However, it can be said that despite her "quirks", she is indeed capable of having human emotion. She is friendly, helpful and protective to those who are dear to her although she could have a bit of a vindictive streak if what I heard about her attack on Hibachi means anything. Compared to most of the other girls in her graduating class, she's far more ready for the hard life of a ninja than they are, with Hyuuga Hinata being a notable exception," said the red-eyed woman.

Hearing their assessment, Hiruzen then asked, "So do you believe that she has what it takes to become one of our ninjas?" While Hoyuki's abilities are without question, her reliability as a ninja of Konohagakure also depends on her loyalty to the village as well as her state of mind. Considering her origins, the latter two factors count for a lot.

All three ninjas nodded as the silver-haired man explained, "She's undisputedly loyal to those that deserve her loyalty and I have little doubt that she's human enough to count as one of us regardless of her origins and what she remembers from it." The two other ninjas nodded in mutual agreement.

Pleased, Hiruzen said, "Very well, Hoyuki will be allowed to pass like the other students as long as she passes the basic academy tests like everyone else. You are all dismissed."

As the three ninjas disappeared, Hiruzen gazed at the returning students and smiled as he thought, "May you, your sister and your friends pass this exam with flying colours, Naruto…"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: The Human-Xenomorph history is based on the Aliens vs. Predator movies. As for Hoyuki's own backstory, it's kind of a fusion of Alien Ressurection and some of the extended universe materials I found in the wiki. As for the listeners' reactions to Hoyuki's backstory, I hope it's not an overreaction, especially for the adult ninjas who must have seen their share of horrible things. Also, this chapter marks the debut of Team Guy with their "Burning Flames of Youth"!


	7. Chapter 6

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 6: Nightmare Rising**

Three months had passed ever since the beginning of the school year. While the days went by with little incident, if one does not count Naruto's pranks, there was one notable change in the ninja academy which is the inclusion of the girls into taijutsu classes.

During those three months, Naruto had quickly risen from the position of dead-last to being an above-average student with exceptionally good taijutsu and basic ninjutsu with horrible exam paper results. Hoyuki on the other hand became the new top female student with her exceptional memory, taijutsu and above-average basic ninjutsu. However, it should be noted that both Naruto and Hoyuki are still lacking in terms of throwing kunai and shuriken. Hinata, whose confidence grew over the three months, also became one of the top five female students, tied with Hoyuki's position in fact, as well as one of the few people other than Naruto that could beat Hoyuki in taijutsu. Sakura was unsurprisingly upset at the fact that she had lost her position as the top female student to both Hinata and Hoyuki despite putting more effort in her ninja training, mainly in genjutsu and taijutsu. Equally upset was Ino who was a close rival to Sakura and had since then been putting more effort into mastering her clan's unique ninjutsu. Sasuke was still the "official" top student as only Hoyuki, Hinata and Naruto can consistently beat him in taijutsu, and still have the best basic ninjutsu scores in the class along with exceptionally good exam paper results and the best aim for throwing weapons like kunai and shuriken. Shino, Kiba and even Chouji managed to improve their taijutsu and survival skills by joining Naruto, Hoyuki and Hinata during their spars and hunting trips. Shikamaru on the other hand remained mostly the same, thus making him the current official dead-last, except for his perceptive mind and survival skills which grew sharper from the hunting trips.

While not part of the class, the genin in Team Guy would occasionally train with Hoyuki, Naruto and their friends. Neji would often spar with Hinata while Hoyuki would often help Tenten with her weapons training by volunteering to be her moving target. Lee was just happy to spar with anyone in a taijutsu match. Upon learning that Lee cannot execute any ninjutsu or genjutsu due to his underdeveloped chakra vessels and was an orphan who used to be made fun off by everyone that doubted him, both Naruto and Chouji quickly accepted him as a close friend and would often spar with him.

As for the adults, Mitarashi Anko would occasionally join the children during their hunts or sparring, either teasing the boys or scaring them silly with her provocative and bloodthirsty ways. Iruka on the other hand would offer useful advice to the children whenever they need help, mainly in the academy basics. Guy, while eccentric to say the least, gave invaluable advice to the children on how to improve their taijutsu.

As far as relationships go, Sasuke is still a brooding loner with a horde of fangirls including Sakura and Ino although he had begrudgingly ceased to see Naruto as a dead-last and more as a worthwhile rival, in anything not involving paperwork. Naruto's relationship with Hinata had grown even closer over the months to the point that they started dating together recently, which gave Anko the perfect opportunity to tease them and Hanabi the perfect opportunity to pester Hinata. As for Hoyuki's relationship with Shino, their relationship also became closer as they somehow understood each other on a deeper level than most and were contented to be together.

Overall, almost everyone became stronger due to the changes Hoyuki's presence had brought upon them. However, they would soon realize that they would need their strength for the hardships to come…

Scene Change

"So, how is your little project going, Danzo?"

Turning his attention towards an individual hidden in the shadows, a seemingly frail elderly man with an X-shaped scar on his chin, black shaggy hair and bandaged right eye named Shimura Danzo replied, "Well enough. The mind-control seal is almost complete and will be ready for testing even as we speak. What of your side of the bargain?"

Chuckling maliciously, the other individual replied, "While the materials available are admittedly limited and "corrupted", the results are quite satisfactory. The subjects may not be the original creatures that you desire to control, not that I can blame you, they look promising nonetheless."

Nodding, Danzo said, "Armoured skin, razor-sharp fangs and claws, a powerful tail with a bladed tip, acidic blood and a hive mind incapable of feeling remorse or grief, they would make the perfect pawns for Root to protect Konohagakure as long as no one realizes that they are under our control. Even if they are not the original creatures, the hybrids would still prove useful." Left unsaid was that Danzo would not have allowed the creation of the original "creatures" even if he did have their samples, at least not until his control over the theoretically weaker hybrids is absolute. It would not do to possess a terrible weapon only to lose control over it as it tries to kill you.

"Of course, your former teammate, who is also my former teacher, would have never seen things that way hence why you have sought for my assistance once again." The hidden individual almost shivered in a sick sense of pleasure as he spoke, "The original creatures are so pure in form and essence, as killers, that they are simply… beautiful."

"Then you of all people should realize that these creatures you have made must be brought under absolute control, control which I am disinclined to share with you as we have agreed upon."

"Why of course, my dear acquaintance. After all, you intend to rule Konohagakure while I desire to destroy it."

"Then you would do best to remember that we are only offering you a small portion of the hybrids you have made, and none of the "original" samples, for your own use once your part of the deal is over. Do not cross with me."

"Now, whatever gave you that idea?" asked the chuckling individual as he left.

As soon as he felt sure that the other person had left and unable to overhear him, Danzo ordered one of his hidden Root ninjas, "Be ready to assassinate that man and his assistant, Hiruko. They have already served their purpose and cannot be allowed to leave this village alive."

The Root ninja, a member of Danzo's "private army" of ninjas who have sworn absolute loyalty to him and are little more than living drones, emotionlessly replied, "Understood, Danzo-sama."

Suddenly, an alarm sounded which heralded the beginning of what would be remembered as one of Konohagakure's darkest moments…

Scene Change

Silently moving through the vents, a diminutive humanoid creature with a rat-like tail whimpered softly as it looked about in fear. Shaped like a mockery of a human foetus with a skeletal face, green eyes with cat-like slits and black sclera, bony clawed hands and feet as well as tan-brown chitin for skin, the slime-covered creature looked almost pathetic.

Hearing the loudly blaring alarm and sensing the presence of so many other beings, beings that would not hesitate to kill, the creature knew that it must escape from the crossfire. Moving through the vents with alarming speed, the creature silently cried, "_Please… anyone… help me!_"

Scene Change

Hoyuki was sparring with her friends as usual when her world suddenly turned dark followed by "hearing" a soft child-like voice begging, "_Please… anyone… help me!_"

Snapping her eyes open, Hoyuki looked around and found herself to be floating in a bottomless black abyss. Confused, Hoyuki was about to call out when the voice called out again, "_Confused… cold… alone… hunted…_"

Realizing what was going on, Hoyuki's eyes widened in shock as she asked, "_Where are you? What is happening?_"

"_Mama… is that you?_"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki said, "_No, but I am friend. Please, tell me._"

"_In dark hole… humans and enslaved-ones hunting me… don't want to go back…bad snake-human scary…_" replied the pitiful voice. Hoyuki then saw images of a pale-skinned man with snake-like yellow eyes and black hair, a seemingly human man whose true form is quite frankly an abominable spawn of a snake which had mated with human. Feeling the snake-man's radiating ill-intent, the being which sent her the images would have fled immediately had it not been contained inside a large transparent tube. Besides the snake-man, there was also an albino man as well as another man with shaggy hair and an X-shaped cross on his chin, both of which hold nothing but ill intent. While unaware how long they had worked to create it and others like itself, the creature knew that they have created at least a dozen of them. However, for reasons unknown, the tubes suddenly opened thus allowing the small creature and others like it to escape. Hunted by both the humans and a hive which has somehow been enslaved, the creature is desperately trying to flee from the crossfire.

Narrowing her eyes, Hoyuki swore, "_Don't worry, I'm coming!_"

Scene Change

"Hoyuki-chan, you ok?" asked a concerned Naruto. He and the others were sparring as usual when Hoyuki suddenly froze as though in a trance. Alarmed, they did not know what was going on although they knew that Hoyuki was telepathically communicating with someone whom they could not "hear".

Regaining consciousness, Hoyuki's expression hardened as she growled, "_We find her, now!_"

Confused, the other children hesitated as Hoyuki gave them the information they needed to realize what was going on. With the memories he received, Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he spoke, "No way, how…"

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino grimly said, "Now is not the time for questions, Naruto-san. We must inform ANBU and the Hokage immediately! That man in the memory, it's not just any man. He's the worst traitor Konohagakure has ever known, Orochimaru!"

Thinking quickly, Shikamaru said, "Naruto, take Hoyuki with you and go inform the Hokage. Lee, go and inform Guy-san. The rest of us will inform our clans."

Shaking her head, Hoyuki said, "_No, we find Little-One, now!_"

"Look, I understand that you want to help it but we can't. We're only kids and we're talking about a man who is strong enough to be a Hokage. We can't beat him no matter how you look at it," argued Shikamaru.

Nodding, Neji said, "Fate or not, facing Orochimaru is suicide and is a risk we cannot take."

"_Little-One part of me, Little-One family, will not…_"

"…Will not abandon or betray family which is an admirable trait but please consider the situation. Unless we can somehow inform the Hokage while looking for your family member at the same time and, more importantly, avoid getting caught by Orochimaru, charging in blindly to save her will do no one any good. If Orochimaru manages to capture us, he'll be using us for his lab experiments," pleaded Shino.

Frowning, Hoyuki then asked, "_If inform Hokage and all trusted adults, if they go with us, can we go?_"

"Maybe, not that they will just let us go with them into a dangerous fight, too troublesome," replied Shikamaru.

Smiling, Hoyuki said, "_Then I call them._"

Worried, Naruto asked, "You sure? You still haven't mastered the technique yet."

"_True, but no time, must try now, only I and you can tell where Little-One is._"

"Alright, but don't overdo it."

"_So says my brother._" Hoyuki then did a handseal and said, "_Xenojutsu, Xeno-Psyker!_"

The other children, other than Naruto, all wore shocked expressions as Hoyuki's head suddenly became encased in a crested black carapace as her head elongated to accommodate what appears to be an increased brain mass. With the carapace covering over her eyes and nose, only Hoyuki's lower face could be seen while her red hair is visible from the sides of her elongated head. By the time her transformation was complete, Hoyuki looked like she was wearing an elongated crested helmet made of black chitin covering her head. Doing another handseal, Hoyuki sent the memories of what she and her friends had discovered to all the adults they can trust…

Scene Change

"What is the current status?" demanded Danzo.

"Orochimaru had betrayed us. He had an agent among us who released ALL of the hybrids subjects which are rampaging or escaping even as we speak, including the Hybrid Queen and her spawn."

"What of the guards?" asked Danzo.

"The one that are not already dead are being pushed back by the hybrids," replied the Root ninja.

Shocked, not that his expression showed it, Danzo demanded, "How is it possible? They are the Root of Konohagakure. Surely it would take more than just an uprising of hybrids to push them back!" Although certainly stronger than civilians, the number of viable hybrids should be far too few in number to actually repel his Root let alone force them to retreat not to mention that they are generally weaker than chuunin ninjas.

"It's the Hybrid Queen, Danzo-sama. As soon as she was released, her face-hugging spawn started to escape and attack everything they can infest, including the other hybrids and our men who were incapacitated by Orochimaru and his allies. We do not exactly know how but the resulting chestbursters grew even faster than expected, most likely a deliberate modification done by Orochimaru or Hiruko, as they matured into adult drones in minutes rather than hours. Unlike the other hybrids or the first generation of the queen's hybrid drones, the second generation are at least as strong as chuunin and can even execute their own versions of jutsus including acid mists and acid-laced webbing."

Gritting his teeth, Danzo knew that this failure cannot be allowed to come to light, "Initiate Order 626, none of the creatures must be allowed to escape!"

Scene Change

"Naruto, Hoyuki, as you two are the only ones which can sense the hybrid Xenomorphs, we're allowing you both to follow us as long as you two stay out of the fight as much as possible. The rest of you however will head straight back to your homes, understood?" none of the children argued with their Hokage's decision as they all replied in affirmative.

After receiving Hoyuki's message, the Hokage immediately arrived at where the children were along with a veritable small army of his most trusted ninjas. That is not including the other adults which the children trusted including Anko, Iruka and even Guy who immediately gathered to where they are even before the Hokage arrived. Initially, the adults wanted all of the children to stay away from the inevitable fight but, as Hoyuki can sense the hybrid which called out to her and knows more about the Xenomorphs than anyone else, they were forced to allow her to follow them. Naruto was allowed to come as well on the grounds that he also knows a lot about the Xenomorphs and can at least sense Hoyuki's presence through their unique mental link. Regardless, the adults who knew the both of them well enough knew that they would either still try to follow them or somehow get themselves into trouble. At least by letting them follow, the adults can keep an eye on them.

As the other children quickly went back home under the care of their clansmen, Naruto and Hoyuki quickly led the way for Hiruzen and the other ninjas to follow. While following the pair, Hiruzen silently mused, "Orochimaru… Danzo… What have you both done?" Orochimaru, former student of Sarutobi Hiruzen and the worst traitor Konohagakure had ever had, once used the people of his own former home village as living guinea pigs for his twisted experiments to both revive powerful ancient bloodlines and grant him immortality in his desire to master all the ninja techniques in the world. It was therefore sadly not surprising to Hiruzen that the pale-skinned man would attempt to clone hybrid Xenomorphs to obtain their obviously unique bloodline. Regardless, the traitor would not have succeeded to obtain the necessary samples for that particular experiment, at least not without having an agent inside Konohagakure. An agent who can somehow obtain samples of Hoyuki's blood, hair, skin, saliva and even bodily wastes, samples which are kept inside ANBU headquarters which is arguably one of the most secure places in Konohagakure and had been kept secret almost everyone. To be able to obtain the samples, and without anyone getting suspicious at that, meant that the agent must be working undercover as a member of ANBU who are supposed to be loyal to the Hokage of Konohagakure albeit with one notable exception, Danzo's Root. Gritting his teeth, Hiruzen thought, "Your foolish ambitions may have damned us all!"

Scene Change

Chuckling at the chaos he had left behind, the hidden man who was none other than Orochimaru who was standing beside an albino man dressed in an over-sized high-collar coat named Hiruko as he spoke, "Once again, you amaze me with your talent at spying and subterfuge, Kabuto."

A young man with round spectacles, dark eyes and silver hair suddenly appeared from the shadows and said, "Well, I am a talented liar after all, Orochimaru-sama."

"True, but to actually fool the Root long enough to sabotage the containment of these hybrids is certainly an achievement worthy of praise." Orochimaru's smile became expectant as he asked, "I trust that you have taken the "original samples"?"

Smirking, Kabuto took out a sealing scroll which revealed vials containing samples collected from Hoyuki. Placing the materials back into the sealed scroll, Kabuto said, "Regrettably, I lacked the time to obtain any data for their mind-control seals, Orochimaru-sama."

"No matter, with the research materials and data you and Hiruko have so kindly "liberated" from Danzo's Root, we can always continue the research in my village, where I am free to use the samples as I wish."

Nodding, Hiruko added, "Of course, I will be using some of the samples to finally perfect my chimera technique as we have both agreed upon."

Smirking, Orochimaru said, "Naturally. I have a good feeling that your technique will meld quite wonderfully with their flesh." Taking the scroll, Orochimaru turned his attention to Kabuto and said, "As for you, I'm afraid your usefulness as a spy within Konohagakure has come to an end. With the situation as it is, even you'll be unlikely to remain under the radar."

Nervous, Kabuto asked, "Then what do you propose I do, Orochimaru-sama?"

Smiling like a snake, Orochimaru answered, "Why follow me of course! You're perfectly competent to be my research assistant and are among the few people other than Hiruko which I can truly trust."

Glad to know that he will not be killed, as Orochimaru has been known to eliminate anyone who has either failed him or outlived their usefulness, Kabuto said, "As you wish, Orochimaru-sama." The young man inwardly smirked as he held no love for the village which had used him, an orphan who had suffered amnesia and held promise as a medic-ninja, as its spy for years during his early childhood only to reject him once his mental integrity started to fall apart due to the strain of lacking a solid sense of self-identity.

By the time the people of Konohagakure realized that the three had left, it would already be far too late…

Scene Change

"What do you mean that order 626 cannot be carried out?" Danzo had already left the underground laboratory along with the few Root ninjas that could somehow escape from the rampaging hybrids. As Danzo views ninjas a nothing more than mere tools to be used for the greater good of the village, he had no qualms about authorizing order 626, which is basically the complete destruction of the research facility in a single powerful explosion, even with members of his Root still trapped inside.

"The explosives must have been disabled by Orochimaru's undercover agent, Danzo-sama."

Glaring at the Root ninjas, Danzo ordered, "Send someone in there to reactivate the seal array. We cannot…"

"Someone…please help me…"

Turning their attention towards an unmasked Root ninja, who was clearly showing an expression of terror and horror, Danzo recognized him as the last of the Root ninjas left behind to block the hybrids' escape as he growled, "How could this happen? These things are supposed to serve us as Konohagakure's ultimate weapon!"

"_That is where you are wrong, fool._"

Turning around, Danzo realized that Hoyuki, along with Naruto, Hiruzen and the ninjas loyal to the Hokage had arrived. Glaring at Danzo, Hiruzen said, "So Hoyuki's information was correct, you have been working alongside with Orochimaru, Danzo."

As if to confirm Danzo's guilt, the unmasked Root ninja suddenly gave out a strangled cry of pain as his chest suddenly tore open to reveal a hideous cross between a Xenomorph chestburster with a human infant. Its mouth bore sharp teeth while its bulging eyes opened to reveal black orbs which seem completely lacking in any emotion other than malice. The terrible beast was quickly killed by a thrown kunai from one of the ninjas following Hiruzen, the said kunai slowly melting from the creature's blackish blood.

"_My original kin, killers never loyal to any but their own, you are fool to think otherwise,_" growled Hoyuki.

Glaring at the tailed girl, Danzo then turned his attention to Hiruzen as he asked, "So what are you planning to do? Arrest me and my remaining Root while these hybrids break loose and destroy all of Konohagakure?"

Shaking his head, Hiruzen then suddenly appeared behind Danzo and drove his kunai into Danzo's back as he spoke, "No, I plan to just kill you and then the monsters you have helped Orochimaru create. You have committed far too great a crime to deserve any leniency." While Hiruzen attacked Danzo, the ANBU loyal to him attacked Danzo's Root as well to eliminate them.

Shocked that Hiruzen could actually catch him off guard let alone kill him, his former teammate, without any hesitation, Danzo nevertheless spoke his last words before Hiruzen twisted his kunai to end his life, "You should have done that… when you had the chance with Orochimaru..."

Seeing Danzo fall lifeless to the ground, Hiruzen regrettably said, "Indeed, I should have…" Turning his attention towards the entrance of the underground complex, Hiruzen's eyes hardened as he continued to speak, "… but now is not the time for regretting over past mistakes. We must kill all of the hybrids before…"

"_Not all, Fire-Shadow._" As everyone turned their attention to Hoyuki, the tailed girl explained, "_Some, like Little-One, not bound to enemy queen. We can help them._"

Nodding, Hiruzen said, "Very well, both you and Naruto can help us by differentiating friend from foe. However, leave the killing to us. I will not risk your lives any more than absolutely necessary."

Both Hoyuki and Naruto nodded in understanding before the group entered the underground facility…

Scene Change

Meanwhile, the tan-skinned hybrid felt Hoyuki's presence getting closer and knew that it must somehow get to her. Already close to the entrance of the facility, the creature was about to make its way towards her when it felt the presence of another like itself. Looking back, it saw an albino version of itself. Feeling kinship with its albino counterpart, the little tan-skinned creature asked, "_Friend?_"

Nodding, the albino replied, "_Friend._"

"_Find Big-Sister,_" explained the tan-skinned hybrid. No more words were needed as the pair quickly made their way through the vents…

Scene Change

"Dear Kami-sama… what the hell happened to this place?"

The disturbed chuunin's question was shared by almost everyone else as they saw a black resinous material which seemed to radiate weakly with chakra and was slowly but steadily growing. Only those who already had a basic understanding about the Xenomorphs knew what the stuff is as Hoyuki answered, "_Hive webbing. Not good._"

"Care to explain?" asked a certain masked silver-haired jounin.

"Hoyuki-chan's original kind is even more dangerous in hive webbing than outside of it. They can hide and heal better when around the stuff," explained Naruto.

"_If webbing this far this fast, hive must be big or strong._"

Feeling justifiably worried, the masked ninja said, "Okay, definitely not good. You two do know how to get rid of it, right?"

"_Fire, very effective,_" was Hoyuki's reply.

As the ninjas of Konohagakure usually use fire-based ninjutsu, many of them felt a little better as they proceeded to literally burn their way through the hive webbing as they made their way deeper into the facility. However, their progress was quickly halted when Hoyuki suddenly told them, "_Stop!_"

Stopping herself from breathing anymore fire, Anko asked, "Why?"

"_Little-one coming, with a friend and many enemies,_" was Hoyuki's grim reply.

Realizing what the tailed girl implied, Hiruzen quickly ordered his men, "No one is to attack any of the creatures until either Hoyuki or I give the word, understood?" While only human, the ninjas were nevertheless professionals for a reason as they obeyed their Hokage's direct orders which is just as well as they soon heard a rattling sound from the vents above them. Their tension was palpable as the rattling sound became louder and louder. Suddenly, a vent grating broke off to reveal to tailed forms falling off the opening. Everyone but Naruto and Hoyuki tensed as they saw the two foetal forms appear before them, ready to strike at a moment's notice. However, Hoyuki was quick to prevent any of them from attacking as she spoke, "_No, Little-One and her Pale-Friend._"

Realizing that these are the ones Hoyuki wanted to rescue, Hiruzen allowed the two creatures to approach her and Naruto unopposed. Reaching out to tenderly touch the slimy creatures, both Hoyuki and Naruto smiled kindly to them while the little creatures crooned happily before the blond boy told them, "You two better get behind us."

Nodding, the tan-skinned one crawled onto Hoyuki's back while the albino one crawled onto Naruto's back instead. Glaring at the passageway, Hoyuki warned, "_They are coming!_"

Hearing Hoyuki's words, all of the ninjas braced themselves for a vicious fight, not they could ever hope to fully prepare themselves for their first encounter against a terrible enemy they have little to no experience of. Hoyuki's warning was soon proven correct as they saw the approaching hybrids. Vaguely humanoid in shape with skeletal faces, prominent fangs and pointed molars, sunken eyes which are completely black, jointed secondary sets of fanged lower mandibles which can close around their lower faces to form grim-looking "lower masks", armoured domes from their foreheads to the crowns of their slightly elongated heads, tan-brown chitin for skin, clawed bony hands and feet, vertebra-like tails with bladed tips from the base of their protruding spines as well as four bone-like vents protruding from their upper backs, the snarling creatures with dreadlocks for hair looked positively monstrous.

Seeing the monsters, many of the ninjas froze at the sight of them while those who were somewhat used to them via Hoyuki, namely Hiruzen, Anko, Guy and a few others, quickly threw their kunai at them. Spurred by their actions, the other adult ninjas quickly proceeded to throw their own kunai, shuriken and senbon at the creatures. However, rather than getting hit, the creatures dodged and deflected most of the thrown weapons while a few actually did handseals in preparation to attack them with their unique brand of jutsus. Realizing the monsters' counterattack, Anko swore, "Shit!"

Thinking quickly, both Naruto and Hoyuki suddenly moved in front of the adults and made the necessary handseals to execute their own jutsu, "Xenojutsu, Shadow-Smasher!"

Each child created a warrior-sized quadruped Xenomorph that possessed large crested heads which proceeded to live up to their namesakes by literally smashing through the hybrids with their armoured heads while blocking their acid and webbing. Seeing the two shadow-xenomorphs smashing the hybrids into bloody bits, Hiruzen admitted, "Well, it appears that I'm giving you two too little credit."

Shaking her head, Hoyuki said, "_No, they not expect it, will expect it later._"

"Was that all of them?" asked on hopeful chuunin who was obviously disturbed by the experience.

Shaking his head, Naruto said, "Not by a long shot, believe it."

"_If enemy queen lives, she will breed and more will be born._"

Concerned, Hiruzen said, "Unless I'm mistaken the queen is made from your body samples. Surely you can try to reason with her."

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained, "_Not sure how but enemy queen enslaved by the bad humans. If queen enslaved, her hive will be too except for new queens._"

Sighing, a certain smoking bearded ninja muttered, "As an old friend of mind would say it, troublesome!"

"We better hurry. The longer that queen lives the more likely she, and all hell, will break loose."

Heeding Naruto's words, the ninjas and his sister quickly continued…

Scene Change

Hinata was pacing worriedly inside her bedroom when a nervous Hanabi asked, "Are we… really in danger?" While more confident in herself than Hinata once was, Hanabi is nevertheless scared at the prospect of having the hybrid monsters on the loose. The few terrible details she managed to find out about Hoyuki's original kin from her sister, after Hanabi asked Hinata earlier about them, were already horrible enough as they were.

Nodding, Hinata grimly said, "We are. We can only hope that Hokage-sama, Naruto-kun and Hoyuki-chan succeed to kill them all before any of them break loose." With her increased confidence, Hinata had almost ceased stuttering except when being emotional, especially embarrassment.

Neji, who had been vigilantly standing guard at Hinata's door for the entire time, asked, "You have spent more time with Hoyuki than anyone else other than Naruto and Shino. How bad do you think the situation will get if the hybrids do succeed to break loose, Hinata-sama?"

"If they cannot breed, the worst they can do is kill people until they finally expire or get killed. If they can breed, depending on how fast, they will either form a clan for themselves or even form a hive. If they do form a clan, they will likely be like the Kaguya clan, killing everything in their path albeit for the sake of self-preservation and propagation. If they form a hive instead, it will be the same but at an even greater scale. Depending on the situation, we may very well face a Fourth World War that will only end in genocide, at the very least."

Already not liking the possibilities, Neji then said, "And considering what we know about Orochimaru, he will most likely create more of the hybrids for his experiments regardless of the risks involved."

Sighing, Hinata agreed, "Unfortunately, that would indeed be the case."

Terrified, Hanabi nevertheless attempted to appear brave as she tried her best not to cry. Seeing her younger sister, Hinata's grim stoic expression changed into a gentle smile as she reached down to hold her younger sister and said, "I will not lie to you and say that there is nothing to fear, but know that Neji nii-sama and I will not abandon you until this crisis is over."

Unable to hold back her tears, Hanabi nevertheless said, "I-I should be the one who is worried, N-Nee-chan! Y-you used to always lose to me!"

Knowing that her sister was still trying to be brave, Hinata wiped Hanabi's tears away and said, "True, but that's what…"

Scene Change

"…older siblings are for, believe it!" shouted Naruto as he protected a thankful Hoyuki from another hybrid arachnoid which managed to get close to the group. Summoning his Shadow Bursters, Naruto used them to intercept and tear the arachnoid apart.

While strong, the number of adult drones was thankfully smaller than expected due to the small number of Root ninjas and their allies stationed in the facility. Still, the drones proved to be deadly as they had been known to execute their own jutsus which included acid spits, acid mists as well as hive webbing which can be laced with acid or will grow into whatever it touches. The real problem was the hybrid versions of arachnoids, which resemble the original Xenomorph arachnoids except they they have black eyes and secondary jaws, as they were much more numerous. While smaller and weaker, the spider-like creatures moved quickly and are as every bit as vicious as the larger drones if not more so. The fact that they possess acidic bites which allows them to literally bite through kunai and swords certainly did not help. Besides the arachnoids were the more cautious facehuggers which looked just like their pure-Xenomorph counterparts and sought to infest the intruders. While both arachnoids and facehuggers could be killed with basic taijutsu, their acidic black blood makes any attempts to kill them at melee range complicated at best. Although less potent than normal Xenomorph acid, the black blood can still cause significant harm and poisoning to both equipment and human bodies.

Taking her third soldier pill, a type of pill which replenishes chakra, Anko swore, "Just how many of them are there anyway?"

"Not sure, but we're getting close," said Naruto as he summoned more Shadow Bursters to intercept the incoming arachnoids and facehuggers.

Frowning at the large number of dead and dying hybrids, Hoyuki said, "_Breeding speed not normal, too fast even for original kin._"

"Knowing Orochimaru, he must have altered the queen to make her breed far faster than normal. At this rate, the queen may expire from overexertion," said Hiruzen.

Nodding, Hoyuki said, "_Maybe, but we still need to kill her._"

Further conversation ended when a new wave of arachnoids and facehuggers attacked the group…

Scene Change

Before long, the group arrived at the entrance of a chamber which both Naruto and Hoyuki were sure is the Hybrid Queen's chamber. While their casualties were thankfully low, even the ninjas that hated Naruto and Hoyuki were forced to acknowledge the pair as their unusually large chakra reserves, ability to detect the hybrids and unique ninjutsu was what gave the group their advantage. Had it not been for them, the casualties would have been horrific to say the least.

Looking at the entrance of the chamber which was now sealed with hive webbing, Naruto swore, "Damn, this is not good."

"Why's that, Whiskers?" asked Anko.

"_Enemy queen had more drones than we thought. She was making them moult._"

Alarmed by the implications, Hiruzen asked, "How many warriors and praetorians are we facing?"

"_Four praetorians and twelve warriors,_" answered Hoyuki.

"That means sixteen enemies which are at least jounin or even ANBU-ranked, assuming that the queen can't fight, and over a hundred eggs and rising."

Hearing the two children's answers, Hiruzen knew that the situation was not good. He was about to tell Naruot and Hoyuki to retreat when the blond boy suddenly said, "I know what you're thinking and no, we're fighting too."

Hiruzen was about to argue when Hoyuki agreed with Naruto, "_Brother and I can summon shadow-drones and change form, can help to kill._"

Upset, Anko shouted, "Hell no! If those monsters are as strong and numerous as you say, there's no way I'm letting you two fight even alongside us!"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained, "_Queen in pain, dying. Queen cannot kill herself and will fight to live because of enslavement. She and hive wants us to kill her, to free her children. Kill her and they will stop fighting us._"

Not liking the idea either, Iruka said, "You two have already done more than enough for us. There's no need for you to put yourselves into any more danger even if what you've said is true."

Hearing the man's statement, both Naruto and Hoyuki wore sad smiles as the blond boy said, "No, it's the least we can do since we're the cause of this mess." Before Hiruzen or anyone else could admonish the boy, Naruto added, "I was the one who summoned Hoyuki-chan to this world which is the reason why we're now facing these hybrids. If I hadn't, this problem would have never happened."

Seeing Naruto's sad smile, which showed far more years of weariness and pain than any child his age should have during peacetime, Hiruzen begged, "Naruto, if there's anyone who should shoulder the blame, it should be me. I was the one who allowed Orochimaru to escape years ago, to later create those hybrids. I was the one who could do nothing to help you even as you lived alone and unloved. Please, don't shoulder that blame alone."

Grinning, Naruto said, "Hey, it's not like I'm all alone. I've got lots or precious people by my side and to welcome me back when this is over." Turning his attention to the sealed door, Naruto added, "Besides, even Kurama-teme knows we have to stop them."

"Kurama?" asked Hiruzen.

"_Crimson-One's real name,_" explained Hoyuki.

Alarmed, Hiruzen was about to argue against what Naruto was about to when the boy said, "Don't worry, both Kurama-teme and I agree that we have to stop them. Even he's scared of the Xenomorphs."

Suddenly, a malevolent voice said, "_**No, not scared, brat. Just worried that they will cause destruction to the world at a scale which not even the Juubi can accomplish.**_"

Shocked, Hiruzen said, "Was that…?"

"_**Do not be mistaken, human. I'm not doing this on your damned village's behalf or even for the brat's behalf. I'm only doing this to prevent this world, which is as much my own home as it is yours, from being destroyed by the Xenomorph hybrids as well as preserve my own existence.**_"

"And Hoyuki is not a threat?" asked an unnamed ninja.

"_**No, as she is now she is no worse a threat to me than those damned Uchiha.**_"

"Damned Uchiha?" asked Hiruzen.

"_Enough talk, we need to fight now, egg count rising._" said Hoyuki.

Nodding, Naruto warned, "Everyone, step back!"

Heeding the boy's warning, the ninjas all stepped back as a terrible red aura emerged from the boy and enshrouded him, Hoyuki and the two friendly hybrids in its embrace. Seeing the four being consumed by the Kyuubi no Youko's chakra, Hiruzen prayed, "Naruto, I hope you all know what you're doing!"

Scene Change

"Are you sure you want this?" asked Kurama.

Inside Naruto's mindscape, which resembles a sewer lined with Xenomorph hive webbing, Naruto nodded and said, "We both know that this is the only way for us to protect everyone."

Snorting derisively, Kurama said, "Why bother? We both know that many of those humans are not even worth protecting! Once the process is done, there is no way for you to ever change back!"

"For the same reason why I'm willing to accept Hoyuki-chan even though she tried to kill me when she was still a larva, the same reason why I accepted you even though you're part of the reason why I suffered so much before Hoyuki-chan became a part of my life."

Frowning at the boy's naïve determination, Kurama huffed, "Fine, go ahead and throw yourself into harm's way for the sake of those damned humans. Don't expect me to offer any sympathy if they prove themselves to be the ungrateful greedy fools they always are."

Smiling despite Kurama's statement, Naruto turned his back to him and said, "Thanks, Kurama-teme."

Looking at the blond boy, the same boy who had actually accepted Kurama for being as much a victim of circumstance as he himself was, if only because blaming the demon fox would make him no better than the other villagers not to mention that Hoyuki used to be even more terrifying a danger to the village than the demon fox itself, Kurama quietly muttered, "Don't you dare get yourself killed, brat…"

Scene Change

"No bloody way…"

Hiruzen could not argue against Anko's statement as Naruto changed before their eyes into a being similar to Hoyuki, his skin breaking away as his Xenomorph traits grew from beneath his skin. Covered in dark-crimson chitin, the boy stood proud amongst his kin. Hoyuki's appearance remained unchanged but the two hybrids that joined them both changed into girls around Hoyuki's age. The shortest of the three girls bore tan-brown chitin, soft-brown wavy hair as well as green eyes with cat-like slits and black sclera. The other girl on the other hand was an albino with cat-like blood-red eyes, white sclera and unusual pale-blue hair.

Emerging from the shroud of red chakra and the moulted skin of her foetus-like form, the nude green-eyed girl said, "_My name is Uzumaki Midori._"

Emerging from her own moulted skin, the equally naked albino one said in monotone, "_Uzumaki Shiroko._"

All four children regarded each other and smiled before they all suddenly spoke, "_Xenojutsu, Xeno-Form!_"

Suddenly, Naruto's bony clawed hands grew into long claws while a dome-like carapace with five rows of thorny ridges covered over the upper portion of his head including his eyes and nose, the bladed tip of his tail grew longer until it was as long as his forearm, chitin grew over his chest, groin, shoulders and hips, his clawed feet became digitigrade, and the spine in his upper back protruded to reveal a row of sharp blade-like spines located between his dorsal vents. Naruto's overall appearance reminded the Hokage of a Xenomorph ravager in all of demonic glory.

Hoyuki on the other hand bore a three-pointed crested dome on the upper portion of her head, clawed digitigrade feet as well as black chitin with blue highlights covering over her shoulders, chest, groin and hips. Appearing like a Xenomorph praetorian, Hoyuki's transformation was among the least dramatic but all of the experienced ninja knew that her form would be no less dangerous.

Of the two newcomers to Naruto's growing family, Midori's change was unexpected as her tail actually shrank while her arms and legs grew longer, a smooth dome covered over the upper portion of her head and thick chitin covered over her arms, legs, back, groin and chest. It would only be later than Hoyuki noted that Midori's appearance resembled that of a Xenomorph brute albeit much scrawnier.

Shiroko's transformation was less dramatic compared to Midori as she assumed a form similar to Hoyuki's but with a ridged segmented dome covering the upper portion of her head. Appearing like a Xenomorph warrior, the albino girl appeared the least dramatic of the four.

Looking at the four transformed children who roared and screeched as one, Hiruzen knew that he could not stop them from joining the fight and could only pray that they will survive the fight, both in body and in mind…

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Xeno-Psyker is inspired by the Zoanthrope from the Tyrannids in Warhammer 40k. As for Midori, her name is based on her green eyes while Shiroko's name is based on her albino coloration. Midori is inspired by the newborn from Aliens: Ressurection (who I personally have a bit of a soft spot for especially after the way it died) while Shiroko will be a Rei expy. Anyway, updates will get slower as I work on my other fanfictions including a few new titles which I'm doing for fun. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	8. Chapter 7

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 7: A Queen's Tragedy, A Serpent's Ambition**

"_Hokage-jiji, we're going to break down that door!_" shouted Naruto.

Nodding, Hiruzen turned to face his men and ordered, "Remember, if this hive is allowed to survive this day, all of Konohagakure and perhaps even the Elemental Nations will suffer! We must slay the queen!"

All the ninjas under Hiruzen's command responded in grim understanding as Hoyuki summoned three Shadow-Xenomorphs, the largest types they had seen yet. Each one was a hulking monster with thick powerful muscles visible even beneath its chitin, a degenerate tail and barely any neck due to both its muscles and the fused state of its elongated head onto its upper back. Recognizing them as Xenomorph brutes, Hiruzen knew that they are the muscle they needed to breach through the sealed door.

As expected, the three brutes all charged as one and broke through the thick resin which sealed the door. As soon as they broke through, all hell broke loose as they were quickly "killed" by a pair of hybrids. Unlike the hybrid drones they had faced earlier, they possessed ridged carapaces on the top of their heads and are notably larger thus making it clear that they are the hybrid warriors of the hive. Possessing thumbs which have somehow grown into alien organic blades, the two warriors quickly charged towards the four children only to be intercepted by a certain pair of rivals.

Grinning despite the grim circumstances as he held back the monster's "armed" hands, Guy said, "Kakashi, my rival, I shall vanquish more of these un-youthful monsters than you or I shall run a thousand laps around Konohagakure on my tiptoes!"

Almost sighing at the spandex-clad ninja, the masked silver-haired man known as Hatake Kakashi said, "Did you just say something?"

Normally Guy would call out on Kakashi for being so hip a rival but the situation was certainly not normal as he kicked away the hybrid warrior's tail which almost speared his heart. While powerful, the blunt nature of the blow ensured that the hybrid's tougher skin would only crack at most.

While the two men intercepted the two warriors, the other ninjas were kept busy by the literal wave of arachnoids and facehuggers swarming out of the hole. Had it not been for Hoyuki who somehow gained the ability to summon and command a small army of Shadow-Xenomorphs including drones, arachnoids and bursters, the two men would have been overwhelmed. Not to be outdone, Naruto used his elongated claws and bladed tip of his tail to tear his way through the enemy swarm in berserker frenzy. Fighting alongside him was Midori who was simply smashing and literally stomping her way through while her thicker skin gave her the protection she needed to weather the damage inflicted upon her. Shiroko surprised everyone when she suddenly grew her own thumb-blades which she called, "_Xenojutsu: Xeno-Swords_". Wielding the weapons with unnervingly precise grace, the albino warrior quickly stepped into the fray as she slashed and weaved her way through her enemies. As the children fought and created a path through the swarm, the rest of the adult ninjas charged into the room to either aid them kill the swarm of arachnoids and facehuggers or intercept the hybrid warriors and praetorians.

Leading the charge was Hiruzen as he breathed flames upon the swarming enemies, being careful not to cause any friendly fire. Following their leader, the other ninjas quickly dispersed into smaller teams after entering the room so that the hybrids would not be able to take them all out at once due to being a concentrated target.

Anko fought alongside with her friend, a certain young woman with untamed black hair and distinctive red eyes named Yuuhi Kurenai, against another pair of hybrid warriors. The one which faced Anko changed its hands into large katara-like blades while the other which faced Kurenai changed its hands into hammer-like spiked fists. Barely avoiding getting crushed, Kurenai knew that she was a severe disadvantage from the moment she realized that her genjutsu had little effect on them or even the lesser drones, facehuggers and arachnoids. Although Anko wanted to help her friend, she knew that she could not with the other Xenomorph warrior persistently attempting to pierce its hand into her and then "open" its scissor-like bladed fingers to mutilate her insides further. The fact that Xenomorph acid techniques will nullify fire-based ninjutsus certainly did not help the situation as Anko could do little against an enemy which can put out her fire-based jutsus and slaughter her shadow snakes with little effort. It was therefore not surprising that Anko was relieved when Kurenai was aided by a certain smoking bearded ninja named Sarutobi Asuma who also happens to be currently in a relationship with the genjutsu mistress. However Anko's relief was short-lived, as another warrior joined the fray.

Fighting off a warrior, with the aid of a sunglasses-wearing tokubetsu jounin named Ebisu, Iruka gazed at Hiruzen worriedly as he was currently fighting off six hybrids which could only be the praetorians. Possessing crested domes and digitigrade feet, the hybrid praetorians were easily as dangerous an elite jounins as Hiruzen was immediately forced to summon Enma, Monkey King of the monkey summons. Looking at the hideous creatures, the white-furred monkey barely dodged a spray of acidic hive webbing as he swore, "Damn, what kind of mess did you just get yourself into this time?"

"One which my traitorous former student created which could very well put the entire world at risk," was Hiruzen's grim reply.

Hearing the old man speak about Orochimaru made Enma growl, "Somehow I'm not surprised. This is exactly the kind of thing that damnable traitor would do."

"We can talk about my failure to kill my former student at a later date. Right now we need to kill these hybrid praetorians." Nodding in agreement, Enma created a solid wall of adamantite which the monster's acid could still melt through albeit at a slower rate than normal.

"Hate to say this but I'm definitely not going to be able to do much in my staff form."

Hiruzen could only nod in understanding as he threw a barrage of shadow-shurikens at the monsters which responded by spitting hive webbing to create a protective barrier against the thrown weapons. The monsters then spat projectiles of acid at Hiruzen who quickly blocked them with a wall of earth. Spitting more acid onto the wall, the monsters almost melted it into a steaming pile of acidic goo when Hiruzen breathed a dragon of flame around the melting wall and almost incinerated the monsters. Forced to retreat, the monsters quickly proceeded to attack with even more aggression than before.

"Damn, I really wish that Shikaku was with us!" swore a large man with red hair and markings on his cheeks known as Akamichi Chouza. Fighting off a single hybrid warrior, the overweight man was at a disadvantage as his clan's size-altering techniques mostly involved melee combat against an enemy. As the hybrids bleed acidic blood and they were currently in an enclosed location, Chouza was unsurprisingly having difficulty in dealing with the hybrid warrior which morphed its hands into mantis-like scythes. Fighting alongside with Chouza was a man with long blond hair, blue-green eyes and strong facial features known as Yamanaka Inoichi. Like his friend, Chouza, the man was at a disadvantage as his clan specializes in possessing an opponent as well as reading their memories. Unsure that he could do anything against the hybrid warrior he is fighting against due to its alien nature in both body and mind, Inoichi was forced to fight without using his clan's unique techniques.

"Yeah, makes me wish that he and Shibi hadn't taken that mission. We could really use his shadow-binding techniques and Shibi's kikaichuu!"

Meanwhile, Naruto, Shiroko and Midori were busy fighting off a hybrid warrior. Having taken out the majority of the arachnoids and facehuggers with the aid of the adult ninjas, the three children decided to fight a warrior which morphed its knuckles into long curved claws. Swinging its clawed knuckles, the monster knocked Midori down and almost killed her when Naruto held back the blow with his clawed hands. Shiroko meanwhile appeared behind the warrior and swung her blade, cutting off the bladed tip of its tail. Screeching in pain and rage, the monster swung its tail at Shiroko who barely dodged the attack due to its shortened length. Unconcerned by the acidic blood covering her body as it had no effect on her, Shiroko crouched low to strike again. Hissing, the monster opened its maw wide and changed its tongue into typical Xenomorph pharyngeal jaws and launched it towards Shiroko like a striking snake. The girl cried out in pain as she barely avoided the strike at her heart which tore into her left shoulder.

Seeing his new sister getting hurt, Naruto roared in rage as his claws started to cut into the warrior's armoured knuckles. Quickly disengaging itself from the boy by slamming its blunted tail into his stomach, the hybrid warrior leapt back to avoid a heavy clawing strike from Midori while Shiroko sliced its pharyngeal jaw into two with the blade on her right hand before changing her hand back to normal and tearing the tip off her injured shoulder. Clutching onto the wound, Shiroko said, "_Give me twenty seconds!_"

Nodding, both Naruto and Midori continued to attack the monster while Shiroko spat hive webbing over the hole in her shoulder to stop the bleeding. As Naruto continued to strike aggressively at the warrior, Midori's chitin grew even ticker and heavier while her dorsal vents receded into her back. Midori then shouted, "_Naru-niichan, I'm coming in!_"

Hearing Midori's call, Naruto shouted as he continued to prevent the monster from executing any jutsu by attacking it with everything he had, "_Go for it!_"

Rolling into a ball, Midori rolled with surprising speed past the boy and his opponent before regaining her footing and shouted, "_Chew on this!_" The girl then elbowed the warrior's back with all of her might, causing its chitin to almost shatter while its bones broke from the blow. Shrieking in pain, the monster was unable to defend itself from Naruto as he plunged his clawed hands into its chest. However, the monster was considered jounin-ranked for a reason as it disappeared in a puff of black smoke instead of dying before suddenly reappearing beside Naruto, catching the boy by surprise as it brought its clawed knuckles down upon him, intent to tear him into pieces. Naruto would have been killed had Shiroko not suddenly appeared between him and the warrior in a puff of black smoke, her right hand morphed into a massive crested dome similar to that of a Xenomorph smasher's head which blocked the blow as she spoke, "_Xenojutsu, Smasher-Fist!_"

Before the hybrid warrior could react, Shiroko extended her morphed fist, literally, with a force which would have caused Guy to weep in admiration to the youthful blow. Thrown back by her elongated punch which shattered its ribs, the screeching warrior unceremoniously crashed onto another warrior that was engaging Asuma and Kurenai. Taking his chance, Asuma grabbed onto Kurenai by the waist with one hand while his other hand, which is holding a special trench knife that allows him to create invisible blades of wind, swung at the pair while backing away, effectively killing them in the process as they broke into pieces.

Looking at the bearded man, Kurenai said, "Thanks."

Grinning, Asuma said, "Thank that pale girl. Had she not sent that warrior in our direction, we'd still be fighting its buddy."

Looking at the steaming pools of acidic blood seeping from the two slain monsters, Kurenai said, "We better help the others." Further conversation between the two was not needed as the pair proceeded to help Chouza and Inoichi who obviously were in a bit of a bind.

While Kurenai and Asuma rushed to help Chouza and Inoichi, Hoyuki was busy fighting off a warrior. Barely able to fight off both the warrior and the thankfully dwindling swarms of arachnoids and facehuggers, Hoyuki gritted her teeth to resist her growing chakra exhaustion when Naruto appeared behind the warrior and did a technique which made Kakashi smile as he overheard its name, "Uzumaki special, One Million Memories of Pain!" Unable to defend itself or dodge due to having all of its limbs occupied with killing Hoyuki's Shadow-Drones, the creature was helpless as Naruto lived up to his name as Konohagakure's number one unpredictable ninja.

The resulting agonized shriek caused almost every hybrid in the room to shudder as one as the poor warrior had Naruto's elongated tail-blade shoved up its behind. Wincing from witnessing the terrible blow, Hoyuki had to ask herself, "_Did brother honestly have to do that…?_" Deciding to put the pitiful warrior out of its misery, Hoyuki had her Shadow-Drones rip off its head while it was "distracted".

Hiruzen meanwhile was breathing heavily as he faced the three remaining praetorians which suddenly paused due to Naruto's unexpected attack on one of their own. Thanks to Enma's help, the old man had been able to kill three of the praetorians without suffering any serious injury, although the same cannot be said about his armour covering over his black jumpsuit including his helmet. However, fighting against six ANBU-ranked enemies which can harm you with their very blood and can work together as a single unit with terrifying efficiency is difficult even for the old man who was once known as the God of Shinobi. Glaring at the monsters which were thankfully getting a little predictable in their attack patterns, Hiruzen turned his attention to Enma and asked, "Can you still fight?"

Nursing bald patch on his head due to being almost decapitated by a hybrid praetorian's tail, Enma growled, "Of course, I'll crush every single one of those damned monsters for daring to mar my prized fur!"

Almost chuckling at the monkey king's apparently wounded pride Hiruzen noted the rest of his ninja forces and was relieved that their growing casualties are still minimal, if even more beaten, ragged and exhausted than before. "Naruto and his sisters have much more chakra than normal children, obvious side effects from being Uzumaki children as well as the influence of the Kyuubi's chakra, not to mention that they are apparently immune to Xenomorph acid and have enough fighting instincts to make them passable combatants." Smiling despite the grim circumstances, Hiruzen noted, "If we survive this, I'll definitely consider give these children an immediate promotion to genin."

"Here they come!" warned Enma.

Facing the charging praetorians, Hiruzen created a clone which made a dragon of earth that proceeded to shoot concentrated bullets of mud at them while the original breathed out a dragon of flames. Well aware of the attack pattern which killed one of their fellow praetorians, the creatures spat sprays of acid which put out the flames and melted the bullets of mud. Smiling, Hiruzen's clone did a handseal and caused the ground beneath them to change into slippery mud. Not expecting the attack, the praetorians almost lost their footing while Enma appeared above them with a massive adamantite staff in his hand as he shouted, "Eat this!" Pulverizing one of the praetorians, Enma cursed at the copy of his staff-form which melted like the rest.

Not letting the two remaining monsters recover, Hiruzen and his shadow-clone quickly attacked with a barrage of shadow-shuriken. However, the monsters suddenly disappeared in puffs of black smoke to avoid the attack and reappeared behind the opposing pair. Striking down the two old men, the two monsters realized that even the "original" Hiruzen was only an earth-clone with an explosive note on its back. The resulting explosion killed the praetorian which attacked the earth-clone while the remaining one was killed by the real Hiruzen who created a wall of earth to slam it against the ceiling, effectively crushing its midsection while the upper and lower halves parted.

Grinning at the old man, Enma said, "Trust you to turn even a defensive jutsu into an offensive one."

Smiling back, Hiruzen said, "Well, it looks like the fight is almost over."

Realizing that the old man was right with the dwindling swarm, Enma said, "Well, I'll stick around for a bit until we get to the root of this mess. Besides, you folks look like you could use all the help you can get." Quirking an eyebrow, he asked, "Where are your other ninjas anyway? I may not have been to Konohagakure for a long while but even I know that your ninja forces are larger than this."

"Insurance, you can never tell what kind of nasty surprises those hybrids or Orochimaru may have in store for us."

Nodding in understanding, Enma helped Hiruzen gather the remaining ninjas, including Naruto and his sisters who are presently sure that the hybrid queen could no longer fight, before entering the "royal chamber".

Scene Change

"Is… that the queen?" asked Iruka who was nursing a deep gash in his right arm which was almost sliced off by a warrior's attack. While bandaged and given emergency treatment, the man would be unable to fight properly for at least a week.

Wearing a sorrowful expression, Hoyuki who had returned back to her normal form nodded as she explained, "_She is dying. Not much time left._" Equally sorrowful were a sniffling Midori who had tears in her eyes, Shiroko who frowned slightly and Naruto who wore the same sorrowful expression as Hoyuki.

Lying before the ninjas was the largest Xenomorph hybrid they had ever seen. An elongated head with a crown-like crest, two pairs of arms with the second pair protruding from its sternum, digitigrade feet and three pairs of dorsal spikes on its lower back in place of dorsal vents, the hybrid queen would have made a nightmarishly majestic sight had it not been reduced to a shrivelled mockery of its former self. Breathing heavily, the slavering shivering creature begged as it struggled to rise back onto its feet, "_Please… kill me…_" The pained feminine voice reminded the ninjas of a victim of torture or worse.

Looking at one another, the four children nodded and approached the queen. Concerned, Iruka was about to stop them when Hiruzen gently retrained him and said, "No, let them do what they must. It is not our place to interfere." Nodding in reluctant understanding, Iruka stepped down.

Tenderly stroking the dying hybrid queen's crested head, Hoyuki apologized, "_I'm sorry, for not realizing this sooner, my sister._" Turning her attention to Naruto, she pleaded, "_Brother, please._"

Nodding, Naruto changed his hands into elongated claws which he called, "Xenojutsu, Ravager-Claw". He then appeared before the monster's throat, paused to for a moment of silent prayer, and used his claws to quickly tear out its vulnerable throat.

With its dying breaths, the creature thanked the children, "_Thank you… my sisters… my brother…_"

As the creature died, all four children roared and shrieked as one, united in their tearful grief at the passing of the queen which had suffered greatly from both its own pain and the loss of its progeny, the same queen which could have been a member of their family had its fate been kinder…

Scene Change

While the children cried out in grief, Danzo, who had somehow survived getting "permanently" killed by Hiruzen through the use of a special jutsu which had been implanted into his body, was facing his remaining Root as he spoke, "As it is apparent that we can no longer remain here in Konohagakure, we need to relocate to our backup base immediately while the present chaos is still on our favour."

As his Root ninjas quickly acted to move everything they could, Danzo almost sighed as he thought, "With the situation as it is, I will never be able to become the Hokage this village deserves. No matter, even if I have to live for the rest of my life as a missing-nin, I will continue to protect Konohagakure from the shadows as all ninjas should be." His single visible eye then hardened as he swore, "As for Orochimaru, that man will pay for this…!"

Scene Change

As the ninjas returned to the surface, Hiruzen realized that Danzo's dead body had disappeared. Not liking it, Hiruzen nevertheless could not risk sending any his ninjas to find Danzo's body as they are still on high alert for any hybrids which could have gotten out of the soon-to-be destroyed underground facility without their knowing. Sighing, Hiruzen just knew that he would not be surprised if Danzo somehow survived the attack even if the means of survival is unknown to him. Glancing at the four children, Hiruzen had to repress another sigh as he recalled what they all saw in a chamber specified for failed hybrids. The horrific sight of the various failures would not doubt haunt many of the less experienced ninjas for many nights to come. Hiruzen shuddered slightly as he recalled one particular failure whose face resembled so much like a certain red-haired Uzumaki of Konohagakure if not for her the expression of pain and horror permanently etched upon as well as the deformed bloated state of her body, a body filled to the point of bursting with deformed young which had died with their mother.

"The days ahead will no doubt be hectic, and I don't even want to consider the…" Thinking about the one universal nemesis for all Kage's, the old man's shoulders slumped in despair as he just knew that the paperwork will grow to a degree worthy of an epic tale of heroics. Between having an immediate rematch with the praetorians and facing paperwork, the old man would have chosen the praetorians in a heartbeat if he could.

Scene Change

On the following day, after the ninjas have more or less verified that the Xenomorph hybrid threat is over, at least for the moment given that Orichimaru who now knows about the Xenomorphs is still at large, Hiruzen immediately called for a council meeting. As the meeting involves Naruto and his siblings as well, the boy who still has his spiky blond hair, whiskers and blue eyes despite the black sclera and his other recently-acquired alien traits attended the meeting along with Hoyuki, Midori and Shiroko. Sadly, none of them were surprised when the civilian portion of the council glared hatefully at them.

Equally unsurprised, Hiruzen said, "As you all know, just yesterday we have discovered that my former student, Orochimaru, with the aid of my former teammate, Shimura Danzo, had created hybrid copies of Uzumaki Hoyuki…"

"Why is that demon brat and his freaks not punished?" demanded an overweight civilian councilman.

Glaring at the councilman, Hiruzen said, "While it is true that Naruto had discovered his burden, as had his sisters, the law I made to keep it secret still applies. Therefore, any further accusations of Naruto being a demon will be met with extreme prejudice."

Feeling the old man's killing intent, the overweight council man withered in fear while a pink-haired councilwoman asked, "Regardless of that law, we still wish to know why that brat and those "things" have yet to be punished."

Noting the woman who is also Haruno Sakura's mother, Haruno Yutani, Hiruzen said, "And just why should I have them punished? As I have stated before, the people responsible for the mess were Orochimaru and Danzo. Also, had it not been for the Uzumaki siblings, our losses from the conflict yesterday would have been much, much greater."

Huffing haughtily, the pink-haired woman who looked almost just like her daughter except for her narrow eyes and more prominent cheekbones argued, "Well, had the brat not summoned that "thing" to this world, this mess would have never happened in the first place!" Many of her fellow civilian council agreed with her as they all demanded Naruto and his siblings to be punished.

Before Hiruzen could argue back, Hoyuki verbally growled, "Shut… up!"

Stunned for a moment, the insulted civilians were about to berate Hoyuki when she silenced them with her own killing intent, causing them to feel as though they are freezing. "Brother, not innocent, but neither is the village!"

Outraged at Hoyuki's verbal yelling, Yutani growled, "Don't you dare tell me who is innocent or not, you damned monster!"

Angered at the insult aimed at Hoyuki, Naruto released his own killing intent which felt like a burning inferno as he yelled, "Don't you dare call Hoyuki-chan or any of my sisters' monsters!"

"So says the brat who brought them to this world in the first place!"

As the other councilmen and councilwomen voiced their own opinions, demands, threats and arguments, Hiruzen grew tired from it and shouted, "Silence!" As everyone in the room fell silent, Hiruzen turned his attention to Hoyuki and asked, "You mentioned that Naruto is not innocent but neither is the village, care to explain."

Nodding, Hoyuki spoke, "_Brother did call me to this world. Had brother not, Snake-Traitor, Pale-Chimera and Root-Traitor not use my flesh and blood to create weapons based on original kin._" Before the civilian council could say anything, Hoyuki quickly added, "_However, brother hated and abandoned by almost all in village. He wanted to become a great ninja, to prove he is better than village thinks. He summoned me to become that great ninja, and to gain a friend, a family. I became his sister not only because I have his blood but also because I knew he was not a bad human._"

Nodding in appreciative understanding, Hiruzen said, "So in other words, this village is to be blamed as well considering that many of us drove Naruto to commit his foolishly desperate act to summon you by accident."

"_Correct._"

"How is it our fault? The brat is the damned Kyuubi…!" the foolish councilman was quickly silenced when ANBU appeared behind him and took him away in a puff of smoke.

Glaring at the remaining civilian council, Hiruzen coldly asked, "Anyone else would like to mention about the topic?"

"While I cannot say that my recently departed fellow councilman had not broken that rule, I still fail to see why we are as much to blame for this as that brat or his sisters."

Glaring at Yutani, Naruto was glad that he did not have to put up with her as a mother-in-law now that he was in a relationship with Hinata instead. Closing his eyes to focus into his mindscape, Naruto asked, "Yo, want to voice your opinion, Kurama-teme?"

"Nah, I'll let you take care of that while I enjoy the show. Besides, you already know what really happened on that day when I attacked your village, though I'm still surprised that you accepted it so readily."

"Heh, I still find it hard to believe that he's my old man. Just remind me to give him a piece of my mind when I see him though."

Grinning, Kurama chuckled, "Gladly, brat."

Opening his eyes, Naruto glared at Yutani and said, "Do you respect the Fourth Hokage?"

Blinking, everyone in the council chamber looked at one another before an unnamed councilman asked, "What does that have to do anything with you, you worthless brat?"

Instead of answering the question, Naruto repeated his, "Do you respect him, or not?"

It was Hiashi who answered as he spoke, "The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, is well-liked by almost everyone in the village."

Nodding in thanks to the Hyuuga man, Naruto then turned his attention to Hiruzen and asked, "What was the Fourth's dying wish for me?"

Now realizing what Naruto was getting at, Hiruzen smiled as he answered, "That you would be accepted as both a hero for your burden and as a fellow citizen of Konohagakure."

Not liking where the conversation was headed, Yutani asked, "And what does it have to do with this meeting or your current situation?"

"Well, let's just say that the Xenomorphs, which can be even scarier than the Kyuubi, are a lot of bad things. However, not even the queens are the sort to betray their own hives."

Smirking slightly at the confused expressions worn by the majority of the civilian council, Hiruzen explained, "What I believe Naruto is implying is that you, alongside with your allies within the ninja population, are treasonous to the Fourth's final wish thereby making you as bad if not worse than the Xenomorphs."

Outraged, a councilwoman shrieked, "How dare that demon accuse us of being traitors to the Fourth?"

Normally, Hiruzen would have silenced the woman but allowed it to slide this time as he knew she was one of Minato's former fangirls until Kushina showed them their place, with comical results.

"Well, for starters, who actually bothered to really accept me as a member of this village, as the late Fourth Hokage had wished?" Naruto's rhetorical question immediately silenced them as they realized that he was right. While they obeyed the laws made by the Third Hokage, they only did it out of begrudging obligation while refusing the follow the last wishes of the Fourth Hokage. As such, they had gone out their way to make Naruto's life as lonely and miserable as possible. A few even tried to kill the boy until it was clear that Hiruzen was serious about having the offenders tortured to death.

Nodding, Hoyuki said, "_You betrayed the wish of the Fourth Hokage, the same human many of you had liked, the same human who died to protect you and your home village. Therefore, you all betrayed him._"

Unwilling to accept the ultimately logical argument, the overweight councilman raged, "Don't you dare claim that you are any better than us, monster! Guilty or not, we were not the ones who summoned your kind to our world!"

Glaring at the man, Hoyuki said, "_No, you drove brother to do it, which makes you guilty as well. Also, I never claimed that I or my original kin are any better. We are not, unless you count honesty of intent and loyalty to hive, to family._"

Pleased by the turn of events, Hiruzen silenced everyone before another raging argument could take place and said, "As it is apparent that Naruto and his sisters have made some very good points, I will not punish them, harshly." Shocked, everyone turned their attention to the old man as he happily drawled, "I actually wanted to give them an immediate promotion to genin, maybe even chuunin, for their brave acts against the terrible threat we faced yesterday. However, if it will make almost everyone feel better, and considering that Naruto was responsible for the mess however unintentionally, I will simply forgo the idea and let them graduate normally."

"What? Oh, man…" Naruto comically whined. Naruto sisters, as well as many of the ninjas in the council expressed their amusement at his whining.

Laughing, Hiruzen turned his attention to the obviously unhappy civilian council and said, "With that, the matter of their punishment is adjourned, any questions?" It was apparent that the old man was not asking as everyone replied in negative…

Scene Change

After the council meeting, Naruto and his siblings left the room to meet up with their friends. Due to the circumstances from the day before, they could not meet them before the council meeting was over. It was therefore not surprising that everyone gaped at Naruto's new appearance which now resembles that of his sisters when they caught sight of the four siblings.

The first to recover was Hinata as she asked, "W-what happened to you, Naruto-kun?"

Grinning, Naruto said, "Well, long story short, I had to become more like my sisters to fight off the hybrids yesterday." His tone of voice became notably worried as he asked, "You're… not put off by it, are you?"

"You do certainly look different, but as long as your heart is still the same I have no reason to reject you," replied Hinata as she smiled reassuringly. The rest of Naruto's friends all nodded in agreement.

Relieved, Naruto grinned widely as he introduced his new sisters to his friends, "Guys, these two are my new sisters, Midori-chan and Shiroko-chan."

Smiling, Midori bowed to them before introducing herself, "_Hello, my name is Uzumaki Midori. I like hugging, cuddling, snuggling, napping, having fun and eating, especially sweet food! I don't like mean people or being scared and alone. My dream is to be with my family!_" With her happy bubbly personality, it would not be surprising that she would get many friends if they were willing to look past her physical appearance, accept her despite her origins and put up with her family members.

Shiroko on the other hand stoically introduced herself, "_Name, Uzumaki Shiroko. Likes, peace and quiet, learning and spending time with precious people. Dislikes, being helpless and people who foolishly judge others. Dream, to become strong and earn my happiness._" It was apparent to everyone that she is the most stoic of the Uzumaki siblings.

After the introductions were made, Shikamaru asked, "So, will they be attending school as well?"

Nodding, Naruto gave Shikamaru the Nice Guy Pose, a pose which he had learnt from Guy and Lee, and said, "They are, believe it!"

"Wait, are they going to graduate with us?" asked Kiba.

Midori nodded as she happily said, "_Yup, and we're going to have so much fun hunting bad guys and making them squeal while they wet themselves!_"

Everyone, except for the rest of the Uzumaki siblings, felt a little nervous after hearing Midori's happy proclamation. Being an innocent child is one thing but being obliviously malicious due to that same innocence is another matter altogether.

"So, what do you guys plan to do anyway?" asked Chouji.

"Well, I'm thinking about showing my new sisters all the nice places and people we showed them in our memories," said Naruto.

"I'm presuming that Ichiraku Ramen will be the first place to visit?" asked Shino as it is almost lunchtime.

Naruto's grin was all they needed to know his answer.

Scene Change

While Naruto and his friends made their way to Ichiraku Ramen, Hiruzen looked at the assembled ninjas, including the leaders of most of the ninja clans of Konohagakure, and asked, "Is there anything in particular that you wish to ask of me?"

Nodding, a wild-looking woman with spiky brown hair, red fang markings on her cheeks, slits for pupils and purple lipstick known as Inuzuka Tsume stepped forward and asked, "That boy, he really is Kushina's son, isn't he?" Among the first to be injured due to executing her clan's unique taijutsu technique, Passing Fang, upon a hybrid drone, the young woman almost lost her hands due to the caustic acidic blood and had to immediately retreat. A wild and impatient woman, she was unsurprisingly furious at how she had to retreat because of the enemy's acidic blood.

Realizing that the ninjas now know or at least suspect the boy's parentage, Hiruzen sighed and said, "Yes, he is."

"So that means that the boy's father really is…"

Nodding at Inoichi's incomplete query, Hiruzen said, "Yes, he is the son of the Fourth. Just for the sake of asking, how did you manage to find out?"

Scratching his hair, Chouza said, "Well, some of us had our suspicions since that kid does look like a mini-me version of that man. Besides, after what we saw in that chamber for the failures…" Everyone nodded in understanding as Chouza shivered at the mere memory of that hybrid clone person who looked just like Uzumaki Kushina if not for her deformed bloated state. That is not counting a few which looked like perverse mockeries of the Fourth including one which had the upper face of the Fouth Hokage and the lower face of a Xenomorph.

"Makes me wonder why those fools who mistreated him completely failed to notice the similarities at all," growled Tsume. Unlike the civilians or their allies within the ninja population, some of the ninjas were at least impartial towards the boy, those from the Yamanaka, Nara, Akamichi, Aburama and Inuzuka clans being the most prominent examples.

Sighing, Hiruzen said, "People believe what they want to believe, even when it is a lie and the truth is right in front of them." His expression turned grim as he added, "I trust that you all will keep the boy's parentage as an S-ranked secret. His father has far too many enemies, especially from Iwagakure, and his mother was once kidnapped by Kumogakure for her clan's unique traits and abilities."

Nodding in mutual agreement, all of the ninjas departed from the council room. After they left, Hiruzen wore a thoughtful expression as he mused, "Speaking of the boy's parentage, I still find it hard to believe that he actually befriended Kurama. That is not even considering what really happened on the day the Kyuubi no Youko attacked Konohagakure, assuming that what Kurama had told the boy is the truth." Frowning grimly at the memory of that fateful day, Hiruzen thought, "Regardless if it is true or not, I must have Jiraiya investigate that "Masked Uchiha"…"

Scene Change

Later that same day, when it was already nightfall, Haruno Yutani was writing down the minutes of the day's council meeting, scowling furiously at how the damned demon-brat and his freaks managed to elude any signifcant punishment. Like many of the civilian council, she hated Naruto as the Kyuubi was responsible for destroying her privately-owned assets thereby almost crippling her secret business plans. However, unlike many of council members, she does not favour having the boy killed or banished, at least not as long as he can be controlled and used as a powerful weapon of war. As for the brat's sisters, the fact that they are not even originally human made them even less appealing to her. At least Naruto was born a human before that demon fox was sealed into his body. Regardless, like the boy, she favours the idea of using them as weapons of war over immediate extermination if possible. After all, why waste potential living weapons when they can be used to your advantage in business or war, even more so when they don't even qualify as human beings and thus have no human rights unlike ninjas?

Yutani snapped out of her musings when a familiar voice suddenly said, "Hello, Haruno-san."

Frowning, Yutani turned her attention to Danzo as she spoke, "So, you really did survive getting stabbed in the back by the Third." Turning around to face the bandaged man, she smirked as she quipped, "Personally, I imagined that it would have gone the other way around."

Smirking ever so slightly at her wit, Danzo replied, "My former teammate may be a fool when it comes to his beliefs but he's still a ninja in the end."

"I don't suppose you dropped by for a friendly chat with some hot tea, did you?"

Turning serious like Yutani, Danzo nodded and said, "I need your resources to help me establish my new base of operations as well as continue with the Xenomorph project."

Now aware of Danzo's intentions, Yutani said, "While I will agree to your first request, I cannot help but doubt the second. It is your failure to contain them that caused yesterday's mess in the first place, as well as your current predicament."

"True, but it was you who supported my idea to create the hybrids to serve Konohagakure as expendable "non-human" soldiers," replied Danzo.

"Touché, but I agreed to it under the assumption that you would do whatever it takes to contain any escape. Do not think that you are the only one who suffered losses from that debacle. I'm still finding excuses for the losses of my privately-owned research team, especially to their families."

"Again, true, but remember that you are as deep into it as I am."

Sighing, Yutani admitted, "There is that. However, I still fail to see how you can still continue with the project given the current circumstances."

"Contrary to what Orochimaru or my former teammate had assumed, I have saved some of the original samples for further research and have memorized the necessary research documents needed to continue with the project. It will take time but I believe we can take it from there."

Nodding in understanding, Yutani said, "Very well, I will provide you with the necessary resources. Gato will throw a fit over it but that pig still owes me for helping him get his cooperation started."

Danzo almost quirked an eyebrow as he spoke, "Funny, I would have thought that you two went along well."

Glaring at Danzo, a feat few people dared to accomplish, Yutani growled, "Please, like I would ever respect let alone like a man that happily captures women for his "entertainment sector". I may be an amoral businesswoman but I'm still a woman with a daughter who'll soon be a ninja."

Shaking his head slightly, Danzo said, "Even now I'm still surprised that that you, who views us ninjas as nothing more than as a means to earn business profits even during wartime, actually allowed your daughter to become one of us."

Groaning, Yutani said, "Trust me, I have tried to steer her away from that path but she is dead-set to become a ninja if only to prove her worth to that Uchiha boy and her former best friend."

"And you're not against her choice in men?"

"Well, the boy is talented, handsome and has a GENEROUS inheritance. My only complaint is that he is unlikely to care for anything else other than his revenge and will likely throw her away once she has his child, assuming that he even bothers to impregnate her. Then again, if my daughter does get pregnant with his child, I would be free to have her widowed without risking losing that inheritance." Looking at Danzo's displeased expression, Yutani almost giggled as she spoke, "Oh don't be such a worrywart! It's not like I won't let him be yours. I only need him out of my daughter's life, even more so if he'll be as uncaring to her as I'm assuming him to be."

Relaxing a little, not that he showed it, Danzo spoke in an almost rueful manner, "I have said this before and I will say this again, you would have made an excellent member of my Root, Haruno Yutani."

"I have made my life's choice, Danzo. Besides, business conflicts are not that different from armed conflicts between ninjas. While you deal with your rivals with weapons and fancy ninjutsu, we handle our rivals with money and resources. Regardless, the victor will gain both the spoils and the political influence needed to prosper further, no matter the cruel and underhanded tactics we use."

Nodding in understanding, Danzo said, "Then you would do well to remember that your daughter will be a member of this village's ninja population once she graduates. After all, it would be a shame if she realizes that she has to kill you for betraying the village for the sake of expanding your profits and political might through your secret private company."

"So says the man that willingly betrays the trust of the people of his own home village in order to safeguard it. Unless I'm mistaken, you still wish to defend Konohagakure even after being branded as its traitor and missing-nin, a trait which I still fail to understand considering what you usually do to people."

Huffing slightly, Danzo argued, "The interests of the village are more important than all else, even morality and ethics, and a ninja of the village must be prepared to sacrifice absolutely everything for the sake of the village." Turning around, the man said, "I will be expecting for the necessary resources, Haruno-san."

As the man disappeared from her room in a puff of smoke, Yutani smirked as she spoke out her mind, not caring if Danzo would hear it as he already knew about it, "As I've said before, personal profit is more important than all else, even morality and ethics, and absolutely anything can be turned into resources for profit. It is only imagination and sentimentality which limits the resources we can freely use." Thinking about her daughter, the only thing in the world she actually truly cares for due to being the only one who can make her feel happy like a normal person, Yutani silently thought, "And just as you would do anything for the village, woe upon any fool that dares to harm my daughter!"

Scene Change

Meanwhile, in an unknown location within the Land of Rice Fields, Orochimaru drawled, "So, who should we provide these wonderful "gifts" to?"

"Personally, I'd suggest the Sound Four but, considering that they are not readily replaceable, I'd suggest this year's graduating class. They are not nearly as irreplaceable and will make excellent test subjects for the prototype implants," said Kabuto. "If all goes well, we might even cure Kimimaro of his terminal illness as well as bring Juugo under our complete control."

Nodding in agreement, Hiruko added, "We will also need to create a pure copy of the original so that we can continue with the experiments without fear of running out of samples." The albino then silently added, "As well as for my personal use to perfect my chimera technique."

Nodding, Orochimaru said, "Proceed with your plans as you wish but be sure not to let any of the subjects escape. We can't have Konohagakure discover our location after all, or a repeat of Danzo's "security breach"."

As the two men responded in agreement and left, Orochimaru smirked as he thought, "_Internecivus raptus_, the Murderous Thieves." Chuckling evilly, Orochimaru continued to think, "Once I find a way to steal genetic information like the original Xenomorphs, my dream to becoming a perfect being, a master of all ninjutsus including the bloodline limits, will become a reality!" The man's chuckling grew into chilling mad laughter as he imagined the power he will wield, and the total destruction of Konohagakure…

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Well, this concludes the first conflict against the Xenomorph hybrids which I hope is not too lacking in action and horror. As for Danzo, he will be making another appearance before long, as will Orochimaru (check the wiki if you think that Danzo's survival is unjustified). As for Haruno Yutani, I just cannot give her that name and not make her a bit of a magnificent bitch of a businesswoman. While I doubt she will be a major antagonist like the previous two, I will be trying to give her a more prominent role than canon or most fanfictions.


	9. Chapter 8

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 8: New Sisters, New Problems**

It was a week after the hybrid Xenomorph incident when the changes in Konohagakure started to become noticeable, the most obvious being the number of pranks as Naruto was no longer the sole Uzumaki perpetrator of the pranks. While it is certainly true that Hoyuki and some of Naruto's friends would sometimes join him in his pranking misadventures before the incident, they rarely ever take the initiative. Uzumaki Midori on the other hand takes just about as much initiative as Naruto in pranking and is almost as good at it. One memorable incident caused by her involved a special trap-seal she personally created which resulted in Sasuke being dressed in a pretty dark-blue kimono bearing the fan symbol of the Uchiha clan, having geisha-style makeup as well as a wig which made him look like he had long silky hair. The effect was done so well that for a moment even Shino and Shikamaru momentarily thought that Sasuke was suddenly replaced by a pretty girl with dark eyes and hair. As the incident occurred in class, Sasuke became the butt of Midori's prank as all the boys laughed while the fangirls were torn between defending Sasuke's manliness to actually feeling a little jealous about him looking equally good as a girl. When Iruka finally asked why Midori did it she reasoned, "_Well, Broody-Moody always seem moody, broody, gloomy and doomy, so I thought playing a funny prank on him would cheer him up._" Alas, Sasuke was predictably less than amused by the incident and had decided to give her the title, "The Second Dobe". Besides Sasuke, Midori worked alongside with Naruto and even Anko to cover the entire Haruno household with toilet paper. How they got the toilet paper and committed the deed in broad daylight without anyone noticing until the last possible minute was anyone's guess. Needless to say, everyone in the village fears the inevitable catastrophe that will befall upon Konohagakure should the two siblings ever decide to compete for the unofficial title, "Konohagakure's Greatest Prankster" or, gods forbid, work together to commit a village-wide prank of epic proportions.

Another change which started to take place is the school curriculum as it now involves more weapons training, both throwing and melee weapons, as well as a significant reduction in the girls' exclusive classes to Suzume's dismay. Even more surprising however was that Naruto and his sisters were promoted to be assistant teachers in taijutsu, weapons training and survival classes, with the Third Hokage's personal recommendation supported by a number of ninja clans of course. Not surprisingly, a number of teachers and civilians were upset with the turn of events as they felt that the demon brat and his freaks would do more harm than good. Indeed, the Uzumaki siblings were merciless in their training as they simulated combat scenarios against both hybrid and "pure-blood" Xenomorphs. The harsh training included learning to avoid getting into contact with acidic blood, learning to fight against superior numbers, learning to continue fighting despite pain and injury, learning to remain calm even when in terrifying situations as well as learning to fight under unfavourable combat circumstances such as dark and cramped places. Had it not been for the Hokage's argument that fighting against the vicious and merciless Xenomorphs will be inevitable in the future, to which all the ninja clans agreed, the civilian council would no doubt have forced the Uzumaki siblings to stop providing their lessons. As for questions about the Uzumaki siblings' competence as trainers, even if under the guidance of proper teachers, let it be said that they were tested against Mizuki and ended up traumatizing him so badly that even Anko felt a bit sorry for the man. After proving their competence, the Uzumaki siblings were allowed to continue training the students thus causing the civilians, teachers and a significant number of students to resent them even more. Surprisingly enough for the Uzumaki siblings, Sasuke gladly accepted the training even though it obviously stung his pride to not only lose to Naruto and his sisters but even accept them as his teachers of sorts. However, after Hoyuki mentioned about Sasuke's ambition, the Uzumaki siblings unanimously agreed that Sasuke has issues and brought it up to the Hokage who later told them about the Uchiha Massacre, an event which occurred when Sasuke was only six years old and involved the massacre of almost the entire Uchiha clan by his own elder brother, Uchiha Itachi, who later tortured him with a special type of genjutsu known as Tsukuyomi. After hearing about the massacre, the Uzumaki siblings had to agree that Itachi's betrayal to his own clan and younger brother was horrible but could not help but feel that something was amiss if what they heard about Itachi's peace-loving personality prior to the massacre was true. Regardless, thanks to Sasuke's willingness to put up with the training, his fangirls and rivals also became willing to put up with it, however begrudgingly.

Due to the increased number of siblings, Naruto and his sisters had to move from his small rundown apartment into more spacious lodgings. While Hiruzen was not surprised that the civilian council and their allies would try to deny lodgings for the Uzumaki siblings, he was surprised when Naruto and his sisters opted for a condemned building which used to be a large storehouse at the edge of the village. When he asked them why, Hoyuki simply smiled and cryptically said, "_Hive._" Being an intelligent elderly man, Hiruzen quickly realized what the girl meant before they "renovated" the building. In just one night, the building changed from a condemned ruin into an alien-infested equivalent as hive webbing grew all over it. Thankfully enough, the children had the foresight to limit the growth of the hive webbing so that only the large building is covered in the resinous stuff. The result, the Uzumaki siblings have a large building all to call home and can even use it as a place to train the academy students how to combat Xenomorphs inside their own hives. Of course, the "renovations" did not sit well with the civilian council or anyone living nearby until Hiruzen made it clear that it was their idea to let the siblings claim that condemned building for their own. The fact that the hive webbing is tough stuff and can regrow made any acts of vandalism other than blatant arson ultimately futile thus aggravating the council even more.

As far as relationships go, Naruto and Hoyuki are still hated by the majority of the village, Shiroko and Midori being no exceptions to being victims of the hatred either. Thankfully enough, none of their close friends had abandoned them or their new sisters, even after Naruto finally explaining about Kurama, the Kyuubi no Youko, to them not long after Naruto became more like his sisters. In fact, Naruto's relationship with Hinata became even closer after that confession to the point that both Neji and Hiashi could not help bur worry a little for Hinata's purity, at least until after marriage. Shino's and Hoyuki's relationship also became closer but at a considerably slower pace compared to Naruto's and Hinata's relationship. Then again, few doubt that Naruto and Hinata are becoming intimate a little too quickly of late, to Hiashi's and Neji's mutual worry and aggravation. Hanabi on the other hand thought the relationship was cute and, after acquainting herself to Naruto, Midori and Anko, was quickly becoming a prankster herself to Hiashi's great dismay. Adding to the number of pranksters, Hiruzen's grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru recently became friends with the Uzumaki siblings after his latest "attempt" to overthrow Hiruzen from his position as Hokage of Konohagakure and had even developed a bit of a crush on Hanabi. Speaking about relationships…

Scene Change

Midori was humming happily as she prepared a few explosive tags for Tenten in return for a bag of sweets. Ever since she discovered her unique talent for seals not long after reading that same book Naruto read which brought Hoyuki to the Ninja World, the girl had been making various kinds of seals including storage scrolls, explosive seals and even a few pranking-seals like the one she used on Sasuke. Quickly accepted as Naruto's cute little sister, Midori is well liked by everyone in the group especially Tenten who really appreciates her seal-making abilities. Despite being well-liked, everyone agrees that she can be somewhat unnerving given her love for scaring or at least surprising people. Besides making normal seals, Midori is also secretly working on a special seal which will hopefully counter whatever prevented her and her tragically deceased kin from contacting Naruto or Hoyuki earlier before the conflict with the hybrids. Although no one could find out what caused the jamming of telepathic communication until the sabotage which released the enemy hybrids, it is not too surprising that Danzo would come up with it given his secretive ways and morally unacceptable underhanded acts for "the good of Konohagakure". After all, Konohagakure has the Yamanaka clan which can use telepathic communication as a part of their unique clan jutsu and the Aburame clan which can communicate with insects through a similar method. It is also one of the possible reasons why the hybrid swarm did not actively try to leave the facility as any as any telepathic communication within the facility with the outside world would be prevented by the jamming which was still active despite being weakened by the sabotage. As Hoyuki would later explain it, being cut off from the hive mind is like losing your spiritual link to your family which is not fatal but is nevertheless horribly painful.

While Midori was happily making seals, Shiroko was calmly reading a book about weapons. Unlike Midori who has talent in making seals and playing pranks, Shiroko's talent lies in her ability to understand weaponry as well as wield, maintain and make them. It was therefore not surprising that Tenten likes Shiroko just as much if not more than Midori as they share the same interests. In fact, thanks to her ability to remember the various kinds of advanced weapons used against the original Xenomorph race such as Yautja plasma casters, Imperial Guard laz-guns and even Jedi lightsabers, Shiroko had been working together with Midori, Tenten and Tenten's father who works as a blacksmith to make new weapons with Hiruzen's personal blessings. Although the most stoic and introverted of the Uzumaki siblings, Shiroko nevertheless found acceptance by the rest of Naruto's friends as they knew that she can be trusted as a friend as well as a confidante if needed.

Suddenly, a loud explosion could be heard and both Uzumaki siblings stopped whatever they were doing and rushed out to see a gaping Tenten and a crater where a target post used to be. Held in the bun-haired girl's hands was a sturdily-built rectangular metallic object which Shiroko had personally designed with the help of Tenten's father, Seikuu, and Midori. Using "chakra-batteries" in place of more technologically advanced forms of energy storage such as miniature fusion cells, the weapon is basically a chakra-powered version of an energy weapon which shoots out explosive bolts of plasma. Staring at the impressive explosion, Tenten swore, "I've got to keep one of those."

Rushing out to see what happened, a meek-looking man realized that Tenten had been tinkering with his crafted weapons, again, and shouted, "Tenten, how many times have I told you not to play with those weapons? That chakra-cannon is dangerous and could have exploded!"

Pouting at her father, Tenten argued as she hugged the weapon possessively, "Dad, I'm a ninja now. Besides, how can I pass up testing this baby?"

Sighing at his daughter's admittedly predictable response, Seikuu silently thought about his late wife, a chuunin who tragically died during childbirth, "Leilei, our daughter is becoming a little too much like you of late…"

Looking at the destruction caused by the "chakra-cannon", Midori verbally whistled while she spoke, "_Wow, that's quite a boom, Bun-Bun._"

Grinning almost manically, Tenten said, "And I can't wait for Hokage-sama to approve making more of them!"

"Yup, way too much like you," was Seikuu's silent groan as he knew Leilei had a love for both weapons and explosions. Looking into his workshop, Seikuu wore an uneasy expression and thought, "And that's only weapon number one…!"

Scene Change

After spending the morning helping Tenten test out the other chakra-powered weapons, including a sniper rifle, a shotgun, a handgun, a revolver, a machine gun, a blade-tipped assault rifle, a chakra-powered flamethrower and even a forearm-mounted rail gun which shoots electromagnetically-accelerated kunai, a euphoric Tenten, a stoic Shiroko and a happy Midori met up with the rest of their group of friends. Looking at Tenten's expression, Neji raised an eyebrow and asked, "I presume the weapons testing went well?"

Grinning for ear to ear, Tenten eagerly gushed, "Like you wouldn't believe it! Those chakra-powered weapons Shiroko-chan designed are totally awesome and can change the way of combat forever!"

Happy for his teammate, Lee said, "Yosh, it is good to see Tenten-san's flames of youth burn so brightly!" Turning his attention to Shiroko and Midori, he added, "And this would not have been possible without your help, Shiroko-san, Midori-chan!"

Hearing Lee's statement, Midori giggled happily while Shiroko blushed slightly and looked away. Noticing Shiroko's unexpected reaction, Hoyuki tilted her head and asked, "_Is something wrong, Pale-Sister?_"

Blushing even more deeply, Shiroko nevertheless stoically spoke, "_No, sister._"

Quirking an eyebrow as the normally honest Shiroko was actually hiding something, obviously too at that, Hoyuki nevertheless allowed the topic to drop as Naruto and the others proceeded to do their regular training…

Scene Change

On the following day, Shiroko was off to do her own private activities. Normally, the Uzumaki siblings would leave her be out of respect for her own personal space especially considering that she enjoys the occasional peaceful solitude. However, after noticing Shiroko's strange behaviour on the day before, Hoyuki, Naruto and Midori were curious and decided to spy on her for a bit. Unfortunately, it is easier said than done for the telepathic bond allows her to sense them as easily as they can sense her. While it is possible to hide their thoughts from one another, it is impossible to fully hide their emotions or mental presence from one another. As such, they ended up having to request for Shino's help as his insects can track down Shiroko without being noticed.

"Anything yet?" asked an impatient Naruto.

Resisting the urge to sigh in aggravation or smack some sense into the blond boy, Shino repeated his statement for the sixteenth time, "No."

Groaning, Naruto swore, "If only we can just follow her without giving ourselves away!"

"_Calm down, brother. Pale-Sister might hear your thoughts,_" admonished Hoyuki.

Pouting, Naruto placed his head onto the counter of Ichiraku Ramen and said, "I still don't get it. We know that Shiroko-chan likes someone but why won't she just tell us?"

"_Maybe because she's shy about it like you and Hina-neechan, Naru-niichan,_" suggested Midori.

Knowing full well that he and Hinata would often become bashful whenever they are alone together and being intimate, Naruto could not argue against Midori's theory as he blushed and looked away.

"While it seems likely to be the case, the question would be who. We know that neither Naruto-san nor I are the ones as she has already deemed us as brother and brother-in-law respectively." Shino hid the mild blush at the thought of being Shiroko's brother-in-law through marriage with Hoyuki behind the tall collar of his jacket as he added, "So that leaves Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji and… even Lee." Let it be said that while Shino and the three Uzumaki siblings would never discriminate against Lee, they still find his eccentric nature strange to say the least.

"Well, as long as it isn't Sasuke-teme, I don't really see a problem of her with any of them," said Naruto.

"Maybe so, but can you imagine her marrying Lee?" asked Shino.

"Point taken," replied Naruto as he cannot help but shudder slightly at the idea of tailed mini-me versions of Lee running about in the village. Midori on the other hand found the idea funny and cute as she giggled in response to the image Naruto accidentally shared with her and Hoyuki.

Hoyuki could only shake her head as she thought, "_Spandex-clad original kin, I doubt anyone sane would ever imagine that…_"

Scene Change

Unaware of the kikaichuu following her, Shiroko stealthily moved towards her destination which is one of the many training grounds in Konohagakure. However it is one of the less visited training grounds for one simple reason, it is the primary training ground used by Team Guy. Anyone who wishes to avoid seeing the unique genjutsu created by the "youthfulness" of Guy and Lee would steer clear away from that place whenever they possibly could.

Looking around, Shiroko wondered where her primary target could have gone too when she suddenly heard, "Yosh, if I cannot do a thousand push ups using only my pinkies, I will run a hundred laps around Konohagakure backwards!"

Smiling, Shiroko moved stealthily towards the source of the voice which was none other than Lee who was training on his own. Somehow able to support himself to do push ups with only his pinkie fingers, Lee was counting with great vigour. Looking at the spandex-clad boy, Shiroko blushed as she thought, "_Lee…_"

Scene Change

"No… way…" uttered a shocked Naruto. Hoyuki and Shino on the other hand were shocked to the point they became momentarily mute while Midori tilted her head curiously at the image of Shiroko having a crush on Lee.

"Hey guys, what's up?" asked Kiba as he, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Chouji and Shikamaru appeared.

Turning around to face the newcomers, Shino adjusted his drooping sunglasses to conceal the amazement in his eyes and asked, "Would you believe us if we tell you that Lee-san has an admirer much like Naruto used to have one until he and Hinata-san became a couple?"

The newcomers' jaws comically dropped like lead weights before Neji recovered and asked, "Lee, admirer, who?"

Equally shocked and curious, Tenten asked, "Yeah, who?"

"Let's just say that we are missing one Uzumaki at the moment and leave it at that," answered Shino.

Noticing that Shiroko was not around, even Teuchi and Ayamae's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at the implications. Staring at Shino, Kiba stammered, "Y-you don't mean…"

Nodding, Hoyuki said with a soft sigh, "_Yes._"

"…That is officially the most troublesome couple I have ever heard of," said Shikamaru. Everyone could only nod in agreement to that…

Scene Change

After Lee finally finished his thousandth push up, the boy jumped onto his feet and shouted in joy at accomplishing his training and said, "In celebration of achieving my goal, I will do five-hundred sit ups while hanging onto a tree with only my toes holding onto it!"

It was at that moment when Shiroko decided to appear out of the shadows and greeted Lee, "H-hello."

Seeing the albino girl who had a slight blush on her face, Lee grinned happily and said, "Why, hello there, Shiroko-san! Are you here to train on this most youthful day as well?"

Shaking her head, Shiroko's blush became even deeper as she spoke, "_I… want to ask something of you._"

Noticing her hesitation and blushing expression, Lee became concerned and asked, "Is something wrong, Shiroko-san?"

"_No… Yes… nervous, but not in danger._"

Confused, Lee asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Her tail twitching in agitation and her clawed hands placed over her chest as if to hold down her heart, Shiroko took a deep breath before she verbally asked, "W-will you go out with me, on a date?"

The silence that followed was such that even a drop of a pin could be heard before Lee's face suddenly became bright crimson and promptly fainted from the shock…

Scene Change

Lee was waking up with a bony hand gently patting onto his cheek as he heard someone calling out his name, "_Lee, wake up, please!_"

Squinting against the bright light entering his round eyes, Lee said, "Guy-sensei? I had the weirdest dream about Shiroko-san asking me out on a date…" Lee's next words died in his mouth as he was staring up at Shiroko's concerned expression and into her bright crimson-red eyes. He then realized to his great embarrassment that he had not only fainted after hearing Shiroko's offer for a date which was indeed most real, his head is actually currently resting on her surprisingly soft lap. Quickly getting up, Lee sat on the grassy ground before an equally embarrassed Shiroko. After a seemingly long moment of awkward silence, Lee finally asked, "Shiroko-san, may I ask why you wanted to ask me out on a date?"

"_Because I like you,_" answered Shiroko. However her simple answer raised more questions for the spandex-clad boy as he asked, "But why? We only knew each other about a week ago and while I may be one of the most youthful people in Konohagakure other than Guy-sensei, but even I know we're not that popular with the ladies for some reason."

Looking at the boy's confused facial expression, Shiroko honestly explained, "_What you said is true, but I have memories of you from the time elder sister and brother first knew you. That is why I know you are a good person like brother and Shino-san._"

Blinking, Lee then asked, "Do you… really like me that way?"

Nodding, Shiroko almost nervously asked, "_Is… that a problem, Lee-san?_"

Raising his hands before him, Lee hastily replied, "N-no, of course not! It's just that I'm usually the one to ask someone out for a date, not the other way around! Not to mention that I usually get rejected, even before I met Guy-sensei…"

Seeing Lee's saddened expression as he gazed downwards, Shiroko placed her hands over his to comfort him and said, "_I like you, not because you have talent or look good, but because you have a good heart and work as hard as my brother if not harder for your dreams and precious people. I like you because your "flames of youth" honestly charms me with happiness and mirth. I like you because I know that you can be a good husband to me, a good father to my offspring and a good grandfather to my grandchildren._" As Lee look into her eyes, Shiroko continued to speak, "_Even if the future is uncertain, even if the dangers and tragedies we may face in the future can be very real, I still wish to try having a future with you._"

Seeing her sincerity, Lee could not bring himself to deny her as he replied, "I… honestly don't know a lot of things when it comes to love, at least other than what I have learnt from Guy-sensei, but I do think that you're a nice person even if you're a bit cold on the outside. No, you're definitely a nice person with your own youthful flames deep down." Smiling, the boy held her hands as he finally answered, "Yes, I would like to at least try to be your precious person."

Hearing Lee's acceptance, Shiroko wore a small smile which made her almost angelic in Lee's honest opinion as she spoke, "_Thank you, Lee-kun._"

Blushing at her smile, Lee suddenly thought of something and asked, "Say, Shiroko-chan, do you have anything against spandex?"

Scene Change

Later that late evening, everyone was comically gaping as Tenten spoke, "I… don't believe it."

"If this does not prove that fate can actually be defied, I honestly do not want to know what would," said Neji.

"The future is going to be a major drag…" muttered Shikamaru.

"Well, at least Shiroko-san actually looks good in it," said Chouji as he regained enough of his senses to eat his potato chips.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino said, "Well, I did warn you all about this."

Standing before the flabbergasted group was Lee and Shiroko holding hands. Adding to the shocking effect is that Shiroko was currently dressed in a light-blue spandex which matched her hair perfectly. However, due to her tail and dorsal vents, the girl's entire back above her tail is exposed thus making the spandex look downright scandalous. Fortunately, she also wore a white skirt around her waist as well as an equally white vest with a pair of slits at the back for her dorsal vents to protrude from, not that it made her appear much less scandalous due to the spandex clinging onto her slender form with great tenacity and the fact that she seems to prefer wearing an opened vest not to mention that her skirt has a slit at the front. Shiroko also wore bandages over her hands and feet although that is just a minor detail.

"Holy crap, Lee had just corrupted your sister!" cried Kiba.

Cracking his knuckles, Naruto threateningly growled, "Rock Lee, you have exactly nine seconds to explain this to me!"

In response to Naruto's threat which is made all the more apparent by his red eyes, Lee simply gave everyone a sparkling grin with his white teeth and a thumb's up as he said, "Shiroko's flames is as youthful as she is beautiful in that spandex!" Not surprisingly, Naruto roared in fury and chased after Lee around the village, intent on clobbering Lee, with Shiroko chasing after the two boys to stop her brother.

Shaking her head at the sight, Hoyuki wondered aloud, "_How did Bushy-Brows manage to get a spandex ready for Pale-Sister this quickly?_"

"For the sake of our sanity, I believe we are better off not knowing," said Shino.

Placing a finger on her lips, Midori innocently wondered, "_I wonder if we're going to wear them too._"

"NO!"

Scene Change

The week that followed after Shiroko's confession to Lee was… interesting to say the least. Guy, upon learning that Lee has Shiroko as a girlfriend, wept tears of joy and celebrated the event by having a marathon across the streets and rooftops of Konohagakure with Lee and Shiroko as his competitors. As Guy once made a bet with Kakashi that his prized student will somehow find love, he wasted no time to proudly proclaim that fact to the dumbstruck masked ninja. While Kakashi appeared disinterested by the fact, he was honestly quite peeved by it which amused the other ninjas immensely.

The citizens of Konohagakure, including the entire ninja population of the village, could not decide what is more shocking, the fact that Rock Lee had found love despite being "youthful" or the fact that Shiroko actually willingly wears a spandex like him, albeit looking much better in it than Lee or Guy. Regardless, everyone agrees that the last thing anyone would want is Shiroko acting like Guy and Lee, something which even Hoyuki finds comically horrifying. Fortunately, for the sanity of everyone else other than Guy, Shiroko not only remained mostly the same as before, if a little more cheerful especially whenever Lee is around, she was actually a calming presence for Lee and can even restrain Guy's "youthfulness" when needed. Due to her ability to somehow calm them down, if only whenever she feels that she should interrupt them, Shiroko was given the unofficial title of "The Beast Tamer of Konohagakure", a title respected even by Hiruzen himself.

Naruto, after getting over the fact that Shiroko likes Lee and her new clothes, decided it was high time that he and his siblings get a change of clothes themselves as well. As such, by the time the siblings got their new clothes thanks to the help of their friends, Naruto is dressed in a sleeveless mesh shirt with leather armbands, a leather vest with prominent shoulder pads as well as a pair of rugged cloth trousers which reach to his knees and is held in place by a dark-orange belt. Hoyuki on the other hand wore a white T-shirt with an opened black leather vest over it as well as a pair of dark-blue jeans held in place by a black leather belt. Midori, decided to wear a brown hooded jacket with oversized long sleeves which hides her hands, a white undershirt as well as a pair of dark-blue baggy trousers which reach to her ankles. What all four Uzumaki siblings have in common is that their clothes have holes, slits or gaps for their dorsal vents and tails to protrude through as well as a mask made out of transparent dark resin which covers their upper faces down to their noses and have the same coloration as their chitin. All in all, the children appear no less alien and in fact appear even more unnerving than before due to having their eyes covered but at least were no longer dressed in dirty rags although they still insist on not wearing shoes like before, preferring instead to wear leather straps or bandages around their feet.

While everyone agrees that Shiroko's relationship with Lee is both the strangest and most unexpected relationship of all, they would soon learn that there are more unexpected relationships to come…

Scene Change

Naruto and his three siblings were planning their next prank, which will involve the Haruna household, the Uchiha boy, a bit of glue, lots of glitter, some ketchup, a squeaky mallet and a rubber chicken, when they saw a sight which made them completely forget about the prank. After all, it is not every day you see Anko dating Iruka of all people. Looking at his sisters, Naruto grinned and asked, "Shall we follow them?" Seeing his sisters' nod, with a wide cat-like grin in Midori's case, Naruto's fox-like grin widened as they stalked the unexpected new couple…

Flashback

Not long after the conflict with the hybrids is over, Iruka was recovering in the hospital when he noticed Anko entering the ward he was in. Curious, the scarred man asked, "Is there anything I can do for you, Mitarashi-san?"

Looking away from the scarred man, Anko then said, "I just wanted to drop by and thank you for saving my ass from getting killed by the hybrid that day."

Rubbing his injured arm at the memory of almost losing it, Iruka smiled reassuringly at Anko and replied, "Your welcome, it's the least I can do for a fellow ninja of Konohagakure, and a friend of Naruto and his sisters."

"Is there… anything I can do to repay you?" asked Anko.

Blushing at the possibilities, Iruka said, "Well, what exactly do you have in mind?"

Blinking in surprise for a moment, Anko unexpectedly blurted out, "How the hell am I supposed to know? I know you're as much of a pervert as the next guy that lays his eyes on me but since you're not immediately making those kinds of requests, I honestly have no bloody clue!"

Almost chuckling at her amusing response, Iruka said, "How about a date then? I've never been out for a date before and you're probably the first girl to have ever given me a chance to ask you out for one."

Blushing slightly at his honest smile, Anko then glared a bit at him and asked, "So you're saying that you wouldn't go out on a date with someone like me if you had another woman to choose from?"

Raising his eyebrows, Iruka asked, "What makes you so sure that I would do that?"

Anko's glare on Iruka hardened as she spoke, "Like you wouldn't know about my "snake problem"."

Blinking, Iruka scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said, "Oh, I almost forgot about that."

Gaping, Anko the asked, "What?"

"Do you want to talk about it now or later after we have our date?"

Looking at Iruka incredulously, Anko asked, "You're not going to judge me for being that bastard's former student? The same bastard who created those hybrids including the one that almost got your arm?"

"Blaming you for being Orochimaru's former student would be like blaming Naruto for having the Kyuubi sealed into him."

Hearing Iruka's simple reply, Anko realized that he had a point as he is one of the few adults who honestly cares for Naruto despite his burden. Granted, Iruka's feelings for the boy used to be more ambivalent but soon saw the boy as his own mischievous younger brother within the same year when he first started teaching at the academy. Almost feeling sheepish for not realizing it sooner, Anko said, "So, about that date…"

Flashback End

Both Anko and Iruka could not help but feel a little uneasy as it is apparent that everyone with a working pair of eyeballs are looking at them. Of course, that is to be expected considering that Iruka is currently dating the infamous Mitarashi Anko, former student of the worst traitor or Konohagakure and possible future threat of global proportions due to being involved with Xenomorph research. The fact that both adults care for Naruto only made the attention they received worse as many of the civilians have a strong dislike for them as a result and would no doubt do anything to ruin their date, at least as long as they feel sure that they can get away with it considering Anko's infamy. Their plight did not go unnoticed by the stalking Uzumaki siblings as they made mental notes to get even with the infuriating villagers via pranks.

"So, where do you plan to go for our date anyway?" asked Anko.

"Well, I was thinking of going to your favourite dango shop for tea and Ichiraku Ramen for dinner. As for other activities, there is that new movie featuring Fujikaze Yukie as well as the hot springs."

Thinking over Iruka's choice of activities, Anko the said, "Not that I don't agree with your idea, I was kind of thinking about drinking sake in every bar there is in Konohagakure and then wind up in a love hotel."

As much as Iruka wanted to be surprised by Anko's idea of a date, he just could not lie to himself about it. Shaking his head with a slight smile, Iruka led Anko onwards towards their next destination for their date, blissfully unaware of the Uzumaki siblings stalking them…

On the following day…

"So, how did your date with Iruka-san go, Anko-chan?" asked Kurenai.

Grinning, Anko said, "Pretty good actually. Iruka-kun is actually not a bad guy despite being such a square about the rules and I actually had a good time with him all things considered."

Raising an eyebrow, Kurenai asked, "Such as?"

"Like the fact that we still had fun even though we didn't do "that" in a love hotel. Hell, the most I did to him was giving him a peck on the cheek and "maybe" a grope or two."

Smiling impishly at the possible relationship, Kurenai asked, "Oh, are you actually starting to have feelings for the man?"

Blushing, Anko sputtered, "W-what the hell brought that up?"

"Well, most of your previous dates tend to end up being one-night-stands and, since you actually had a good time despite not having "it" in a love hotel, that could only mean that you might actually like Iruka more than most of your past dates if nothing else."

Anko's blush only deepened at the implications as she wondered, "Do I… really like that guy that way?"

Scene Change

While Anko was dealing with Kurenai, Iruka was dealing with the entire class courtesy of the Uzumaki siblings that spied on his date with Anko. Being the pranksters they are, Naruto and Midori decided to make a large banner inside the classroom which said, "Iruka Likes Anko!"

Needless to say, the mortified teacher yelled with enough volume to reach the village walls and proceeded to give the mischievous pair detention. However, the damage was already done and both Iruka and Anko became the talk of the village as the second most surprising couple in all of Konohagakure…

Scene Change

A few days after Iruka's date with Anko, Sasuke was scowling as a mob of fangirls followed behind him. Contrary to what the fangirls think, Sasuke honestly finds them annoying and wished that something will drive them away. Suddenly, Sasuke stepped onto a well-hidden trap seal and was engulfed in a large puff of smoke. Concerned for their Sasuke-kun, the fangirls immediately tried to rush to his aid only to get caught in a series of traps. Hearing their cries as they got caught, Sasuke thought, "Great, must be another one of the Second Dobe's traps. Seriously, how the hell does that girl manage to make those traps?

When the smoke finally cleared, Sasuke was half-expecting to be dressed in a white tutu but was surprised that he had suffered no apparent change in appearance. The fangirls on the other hand were all dressed in spandex matching their hair colours. Adding to the shocking sight, the girls' hairstyles were somehow redone into ridiculously bushy afros, had equally bushy pom-poms glued onto their hands, their eyebrows somehow became bushy enough to match Might Guy's own eyebrows, were all wearing fuzzy bunny slippers which also happened to be squeaky, had round blush-stickers painted onto their cheeks, and were covered in a thin layer of glitter. As a finishing touch, there was a banner behind the girls which said, "Uchiha Fangirl Cheerleading Squad, Go!"

Staring at the sight, Sasuke could do the only thing he could think off considering that he had little love for the fangirls who were currently in an absurdly hilarious predicament. His scowling broody expression cracked into a grin as he snorted a snicker at the shrieking fangirls who were horrified by their own reflections.

"_It looks like Broody-Moody can smile and laugh after all._"

Recognizing that voice, Sasuke turned his attention to a grinning Midori who had a camera in her hands and asked, "Care explaining about this?"

"_The fangirls were mean about my nee-chans and their boyfriends yesterday so I wanted to play a prank on them. Besides, I kind of figured you wanted them to be the victims this time._"

Looking back at the fangirls who were now locked onto the small Uzumaki like a barrage of laser-guided planet-cracker-class nuclear missiles, Sasuke drawled, "While I certainly cannot say that I don't appreciate the prank you played onto them but, if I were you, I would run."

Grinning from ear to ear like a well-fed cat, Midori said, "_Well, they can try! Xenojutsu, Xeno Runner!_" Assuming a cat-like form with digitigrade legs and paw-like hands, Midori dashed through the street with a horde of murderous fangirls chasing after her. Laughing, Midori shouted, "_Come and catch me if you can!_"

Seeing the trail of squeaky chaos left behind in their wake, Sasuke shook his head and actually smiled sincerely for the first time ever since the Uchiha massacre, blissfully unaware that the Uchiha clan symbol on his back had been replaced with an arrow pointing towards the back of his head and a text below the arrow which said, "I like ducky butts and I cannot lie!" Not surprisingly, Sasuke's good mood immediately soured after he found out about the changes on his shirt.

Scene Change

Later on that same day, Haruno Yutani sighed after gaping at the sight of her daughter, Haruno Sakura, who angrily stormed into the bathroom to clean herself. Ever since the council meeting involving the Uzumaki brats, who later learned that her first name was Yutani, they had been a constant thorn in her side as they played various kinds of ridiculous pranks on her household including her daughter. While she would be among the first to demand that the brats must be punished for their pranks, preferably as inhumanely as possible, no one who does not hate brats will ever take her case seriously as the pranks are harmless if bloody humiliating like the toilet paper incident or that other incident which involved making Sasuke look like a glittery vampire with a fainted Sakura in his arms as his "victim". Frowning, especially as she recalled how Sakura fainted due to a nosebleed as she saw Sasuke half-naked with glittering skin and hair under the sunlight, Yutani thought, "Seriously, what kind of sick demented excuse of a human mind actually thought about making vampires glitter in sunlight of all things?"

Scene Change

A few days after the Uchiha Fangirl Cheerleading Squad incident, Naruto was happily slurping his ramen like a black hole, thus further proving that he had not changed as much as some assumed despite his physical changes, when Midori suddenly suggested, "_Say, Naru-niichan, want to make an epic prank before we graduate this year?_"

Hearing Midori's question, Naruto's grin appeared outright maniacally evil as he said, "You bet I do, believe it!"

Hearing their conversation, even Shiroko paled a little as she and everyone else could only imagine the chaos the pranksters would cause. Despite their differing personalities, they all had one common thought, "Konohagakure is doomed…!"

The ANBU who heard Naruto's acceptance to the competition immediately warned Hiruzen as though the Kyuubi no Youko had just been released. Hearing the man's comically desperate report, the old man could only pray, "Hopefully this village will still be one piece by the time they are done…"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Thus ends a breather chapter of the series. Just so you know Midori will not be paired with Sasuke as I already have someone else in mind. And yes, the jab at the Twilight series is very much intended. Hope you like this chapter.


	10. Chapter 9

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 9: Pranks, Traitors and Graduation**

It was anything but a peaceful day at Konohagakure as it was the dreaded day the Uzumaki children and their friends would work together to commit a pranking spree of grand proportions. Ninjas and civilians of all ages and ranks either nervously anticipated the pranks that will befall upon them or desperately tried to avoid getting caught in the said pranks, assuming that they had not already been caught. It certainly did not help that Naruto and Midori somehow managed to slip a seal into the council chamber without anyone knowing and released a genjutsu-like technique upon activation which is really more like a 3D-image recording…

Scene Change

Hiruzen was attending the usual monthly council meeting when a hidden seal suddenly activated and created a flash of light. Naturally, everyone was either on high alert or panicked at the activation of the hidden seal until it showed a clearly flawed image of Naruto and Midori. Flawed in the sense that the images are semi-transparent blue in colour and had static for some reason. Looking at the grinning pair, those that knew them well enough inwardly groaned as they thought, "The time which we had been fearfully anticipating for is at hand…!" Naruto's class will be graduating later within the week and they just knew that the two pranksters have finally decided to begin their grand prank of epic proportions.

"Greeting, fine councilmembers of Konohagakure, as I'm sure you all know by now, our names are Uzumaki Naruto and Uzumaki Midori. Before I continue with the main topic of this interruption, allow me to first explain that this is merely a recording. In other words, we will be unable to answer to any questions or arguments you all will have against us." With his eyes covered by the mask, his wide fox-like toothy grin and his slightly slouched stance, the boy appeared outright malevolent. Pausing as if to allow the people inside the council chamber to digest his words, Naruto then continued to speak, "To put a long story short my sister and I, along with a select few, have decided to play a grand prank which will be remembered in this village for years to come. Be aware however that we will not be limiting ourselves to just one prank across the entire village. With that said, I shall make the following announcement." After a short pause, the boy then said, "For the next 24 hours, the entire village will be the victims of our pranks to some degree or another, none of which will cause physical harm let alone kill unless a person can physically die from shame. At the end of the 24-hour limit, a final prank will activate and WILL affect the entire village. Naturally, you will all choose to oppose us and stop our pranks from happening, something which we are all looking forward to." Naruto's grin widened as he concluded the recording by saying, "Remember, 24 hours…!"

Needless to say, after the recording ended, Hiruzen immediately had all the ninjas available in Konohagakure on high-alert to find the trouble-makers and any pranking traps they may had made. Of course, the majority of the civilians in the council immediately panicked, and with good reason considering the pranks the two Uzumaki children can pull off not to mention even the ninja clans are worried, and spread the word across the entire village faster than even the Fourth Hokage could travel with his unique trademark ninjutsu…

Scene Change

Kakashi was thoroughly miserable as he dragged his drenched muddy form towards a bookstore. Just five minutes after hearing Hiruzen's warning about the pranks, he was among the first to discover a trap, an elaborate tripwire trap which would have completely drenched whoever triggered it in water due to the buckets filled with water balloons. Being a high-ranking jounin and former ANBU, Kakashi easily disarmed the trap only to fall prey to the hidden secondary trap, a simple pit trap which will only activate when the tripwire trap above it is disarmed. Falling into the pit, the buckets filled with water balloons fell into the pit and got him completely drenched. To add insult to injury, the prank ruined his favourite book with an orange cover called Icha Icha Paradise. Sighing in memory of the ruined book, Kakashi had a buy another one.

However, with the mass panic Naruto and Midori had unleashed upon the village, over 80% of market business had all but shut down for the day as people desperately rushed home to avoid the pranks. Therefore, it was not surprising that the bookstore which sold his favourite book was closed. Staring at the closed sign, Kakashi sighed in despair and muttered, "This is going to be a LONG 24 hours…"

Scene Change

Meanwhile, as Kakashi lamented over the loss of his book, Hiashi and his clan decided to continue with life as usual as they felt that their clan would not suffer much in the event that the two Uzumaki siblings actually do manage to get past their security and play a prank on them. Considering that his two daughters and nephew are friends with the Uzumaki siblings, the head of the Hyuuga clan did have a convincing point. Still, as Shikaku earlier said, "It'll be less troublesome to be careful just in case then deal with a problem we could have avoided."

As the council meeting ended much earlier than expected, the man had some free time and decided to check on his daughters to see if they know anything about the pranking-spree. Unfortunately, both of his daughters could not be found although Neji did find a note in their rooms which stated that they are will be with their friends for the day. "As long as that boy and his family don't hurt them, I suppose I will let this matter slide, within reason of course." Realizing what he had just said, Hiashi was half-tempted to slap his palm over his face as he recalled on fact, "Uzumaki and reason don't exactly mix, especially when it comes to pranks!"

Suddenly, he heard a loud explosion and activated his Byakugan to see that the interior of the main branch building had been covered in bright-orange paint with only a few exceptions including his office and Hinata's bedroom. Realizing that the Hyuuga elders and their families are the main targets, Hiashi sighed and buried his face into his hands as he said aloud, "Kushina-san, your boy is being a complete hell-raiser today…!"

Scene Change

While Hiashi remembered the simple truth about Uzumaki and pranks, a truth reinforced by Uzumaki Kushina's days as a prankster which must had been passed down to her son and "daughter", Shikaku was playing shogi with Shikamaru and asked, "So, what are the chances of our clan receiving a prank?"

"Knowing him, I'll say they will definitely play a prank on us. The only real questions are how, when and where."

Nodding in understanding, Shikaku replied, "Any idea how they will strike? I could really use your better understanding on them to prevent their troublesome pranks from blowing up into our faces."

Shrugging, Shikamaru admitted, "Not a clue, Naruto may not be the best strategist but he's unpredictable and really good at improvising. Chances are, even if we do somehow stop the first set of pranks against us, they'll just try to get us again until the time-limit is over."

Suddenly, both Nara males cringed when they heard the blood-curdling scream of bloody murder from Shikaku's wife, Nara Yoshino. Thinking quickly, Shikamaru immediately disappeared in a puff of smoke while Shikaku glanced at the spot where his son had occupied a moment ago and swore, "This is going to be a drag…"

Scene Change

Shikamaru barely avoided whatever chore his mother had obviously planned for him and his father when he noticed a rather sweaty red-faced Chouji who was hyperventilating a bit. Quirking an eyebrow, Shikamaru asked, "They got you too?"

Nodding, Chouji groused, "How in the Ninja World did they manage to spike our dishes with chilli?"

Shaking his head, Shikamaru then noticed a fuming wet Ino. Due to the special training sessions provided by the Uzumaki siblings which Uchiha Sasuke greatly appreciates for reasons which the fangirls could not fully comprehend, Ino's appearance had changed somewhat with noticeable but pleasant muscle tones on her arms, shoulders, legs, hips and waist. The same changes in physique could be said for most of the girls who still want to be ninjas as they were forced to realize that female ninjas must be prepared to fight and that the advantages of looking beautiful is limited at best when it comes to life-and-death struggles. Although a little upset at the gain in "ugly" muscles, and "gluttunous" appetite, Ino was nevertheless practical enough to realize the usefulness of the training. Besides, her Sasuke-kun made it clear he prefers stronger girls anyway so maybe some visible muscles will increase her chances of wooing him.

Looking at the fuming girl, Shikamaru deadpanned, "Let me guess, he rigged every flower bouquet in your clan's flower shops with squirt-guns."

Glaring murderously at the bored-looking boy, Ino growled, "When I get my hands on that tailed creep, I'm going to put him six feet under!"

Scene Change

While Ino swore to get even with Naruto, Sakura made the same oath as she stormed out of her home while covered from head to toe in eggs and flour. As to how it happened, the Uzumaki siblings somehow rigged the fridge inside the Haruno household with a trap which threw eggs and then flour at whoever opened it. Of course, the girl would have immediately taken a bathe, had the siblings not decided to dismantle the pipes which supply water into the bathroom. Her mother did not exactly fare any better as her was covered in syrup followed by a coating of feathers. That is not even counting the graffiti drawn on the walls of the house which included a message, "This is the lair of the Pink-Haired Forehead-Banshee, a creature infamous for its loud voice and violent tendencies to anyone other than the object of its obsession. In this case, an Uchiha male noted to have a haircut shaped like a duck's backside."

Scene Change

While Sakura was on a warpath to find a certain blond Uzumaki, Shino's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he, alongside with the braver members of his clan including his father, had to capture the frogs and toads which surrounded the Aburame compound. It did not help that the amphibians are somehow aware that the Aburame ninjas have their kikaichuu and were quite content to just sit comfortably on their heads and shoulders in the hopes of getting an easy meal.

Scene Change

Kiba was torn between feeling mortified and laughing at the scene before him as his mother and sister desperately tried to get the Inuzuka clan's dogs to calm down. Somehow the Uzumaki siblings had gotten their hands on bitch-in-heat urine and prepared special water-bombs with the said urine. Needless to say, the civilians and ninjas that who got covered in the urine were being chased by horny dogs of all ages, including ninja dogs which are capable of doing ninjutsu much like their human counterparts and were somehow made drunk by the alcohol the siblings managed to spike into their drinking bowls. Kiba's good mood quickly soured when he realized that Amakaru was among the dogs they had to chase down.

Among the victims of the "leg-humping" included Kurenai and Asuma who were working together to deal with the pranks. Grimacing at the unpleasant memory, Kurenai just knew that Anko was one of Naruto's accomplices and was laughing at her expense. Asuma on the other hand wondered how the kids somehow managed to replace his cigarettes with gag versions that explode upon lighting.

Scene Change

Sasuke scowled furiously as a duck-shaped headwear was literally glued onto his head. The fact that the duck had black feathers and its rear actually did match his usual hairstyle quite closely only added insult to his injured pride.

As he tried to search for a certain pair of tailed siblings to get even with, Sasuke saw a sight which almost made him want to blind himself with a rusty kunai, vengeance be damned. The reason, he just saw Guy and Lee dressed in lacy female underwear as they continued to help the citizens of Konohagakure despite the "wardrobe handicap". Of course, given their quirks and current state of dress, the pair did far more harm than good as even Morino Ibiki, the scarred leader of the Torture and Interrogation unit of Konohagakure, was traumatized by the sight.

Scene Change

The overall atmosphere in Konohagakure was chaotic to say the least. Hiruzen could only sigh as the cat-masked ANBU who was now covered in purple paint reported, "The Hyuuga elders are calling out for Naruto's blood for replacing their expensive silk clothes with green spandex, the Haruno household needs to be fumigated with the number of bugs found inside, the interior walls of ANBU's headquarters is currently coated with lots of wet paint and glue, the Nara household's kitchen is now a complete mess, Guy and Lee's "Sunset of Youth" had just reached to completely new levels of disturbing…" Both the cat-masked ANBU and Hiruzen shuddered in fear and disgust at the mere mention of it before the ANBU continued with the report, "Currently, the only places that are confirmed to be unaffected by the pranks are Ichiraku Ramen, Mitarashi Anko's favourite dango shop and Seikuu-san's shop."

"It's barely even twelve hours and already they cause this much damage and chaos. If I could somehow sneak them into an enemy village and let them to something like this without getting caught, I would most certainly enjoy watching the resulting mayhem." Hiruzen shook his head as he dreaded to know what will happen next…

Scene Change

Thankfully enough, the number of pranks had dropped after the initial twelve hours although the careless could still get caught in the traps the Uzumaki siblings and their accomplices have set up. However, even with the relatively peaceful sleep that night, people were still getting pranked as Ami woke up with her hair dyed bright pink while Haruno Yutani realized to her horror that she was glowing bright orange in the dark. The person who screamed the loudest, thereby waking up the entire village in the process, however had to be Kakashi as his secret collection of Icha Icha books were replaced with a trashy romance novel… involving homosexual men. Of course, not one can really blame the man as they realized that the characters involved in the book gave them the disturbing image of Kakashi falling in love with a lingerie-clad Guy. The book that made Kakashi scream in such horror and despair was titled as, "Uke Uke Brokeback Konoha" and was written by Uzumaki Midori of all people. Even worse, the siblings had somehow replaced almost all the hidden stashes of Icha Icha books with the Uke Uke books and a few of the women actually liked the latter.

Scene Change

Meanwhile, far away from Konohagakure and Kakashi's scream of horror, a certain white-haired toad sage shivered and thought, "It feels like an ungodly perversion of righteousness had been unleashed upon the Ninja World…!"

Scene Change

Soon, the 24-hour mark was nigh and everyone was understandably tense at they feared what would happen, assuming of course that they were not already driven to the point of no longer caring for the inevitable event. A significant number of civilians and ninjas were still recovering from the trauma of seeing Lee and Guy in female underwear. Kakashi had all but mentally shut down from being deprived of his beloved Icha Icha and being among the first to read the horribly perverse mockeries of the novels, the Uke Uke. The Aburame, Inuzuka, Nara, Akamichi and Yamanaka have recovered somewhat although the Hyuuga clan were forced to wear green spandex for the day to their complete aggravation. Guy and Lee thankfully managed to get some spare spandex from the Hyuuga while Kurenai and Asuma managed to get the necessary change of clothes, and a bath, to avoid gaining the attention of the dogs. Had an enemy village decided to strike at that moment, Konohagakure would have been in a lot of trouble.

Suddenly, within the last five minutes of the 24-hour mark, a series of explosions could be heard and the villagers could only wonder, "What now?"

Scene Change

Naruto, Midori, Hoyuki, Shiroko, Anko, Hinata, Hanabi, Konohamaru and his two friends, Moegi and Udon, were grinning as the explosions occurred throughout the village. By the time the clouds of smoke from the explosions cleared, the village ended up covered in paint which, when watched from above at the top of the Hokage Monument, looked like cutesy versions of the assembled pranksters' faces. What is more, the Hokage Monument was covered in paint as well as the face of the First Hokage looked like he had just been slapped and given a black eye while the Second Hokage looked like he had a close encounter with a ferocious cat with scratch marks all over his face with comical tears running down his cheeks. The Third Hokage looked like he was drunk with a bright-red blush on his cheeks and swirls in his eyes while the Fourth Hokage had a bloody nose as he gazed lecherously at a bikini-clad buxom beauty with red hair.

Seeing their handiwork, the pranksters laughed and giggled as they congratulated themselves for a job well-done and, with the special recording seals in place, they will be able to show off their feat which will be remembered for generations to come. By the time the explosions of paint was over, almost the entire village had one common thought, "Those pranksters must pay!"

Scene Change

"So let me get this straight. You actually allowed those pranksters to create, as Anko-san would probably put it, "a perfect $%!#-storm" of a pranking disaster to not only give us a lesson to always be on alert but to also help flush out whichever traitors and enemy agents we may have?" asked an incredulous Iruka.

Nodding, Hiruzen said, "While I am admittedly shocked by what they can accomplish with the right materials and timing, I must say that those children and your friend have clearly outdone themselves."

Not long after realizing that Naruto and Midori would try to play a grand prank across the entire village before their graduation, Hiruzen wisely decided to discuss with them so that he can at least minimize the damage they will inevitably cause. After a bit of discussion, the three had an agreement. Naruto, his family and his friends will all work together to create the pranking-storm of the century while Hiruzen would use the opportunity to find any traitors and enemy agents the village may have with their help.

Surprisingly enough, the plan worked very well as they had found some of Danzo's agents by noticing that their lack of real emotion even amidst the chaos of the pranks as well as the hilarity and humiliation the pranks caused. They also managed to find a number of traitors and enemy agents as they tried to steal important classified documents, steal ninja techniques such as the ones recorded in the forbidden scroll and tried to report to their leaders about Konohagakure's "weakened" state. Of course, all of the important documents and scrolls were rigged with traps including ropes, electrical shocks, paralytic poison gases, illusions, itching powder, buckets and even Shadow-Xenomorphs such as drones, bursters and brutes. As for the enemy agents that tried to contact their superiors, Hoyuki's shadow-drones were able to identify all of them and even managed to apprehend a few. Therefore, despite the majority of the village calling out for their blood, all of the pranksters and their accomplices managed to get away with only a mild admonishment for "going overboard" as punishment.

Speaking about traitors and enemy agents, all of them were later apprehended by ANBU and jounin and were later interrogated by Ibiki who had a new tool in his arsenal of torture equipment, a seal which contained a video-like recording of Guy and Lee doing their dreaded "Sunset of Youth" while dressed in female underwear. Not surprisingly, only Danzo's emotionally-dead "drones" managed to endure the torture while everyone else cracked within moments. If that was not enough, Midori "kindly" provided the Torture and Interrogation unit with a seal which had an audio-recording which reads out "Uke Uke Brokeback Konoha" with some images for added visualization. However, it was unanimously agreed that using the dreaded recordings for torture was sadistic, even by Ibiki's and Anko's standards who swore, "That girl is a natural at breaking the minds, and hearts, of men…"

To Iruka's shock and disappointment, Mizuki was one of the traitors as he was an agent of Orochimaru and tried to steal the forbidden scroll which contained many of Konohagakure's more powerful ninjutsu. As he hated Naruto and his sisters, the man wasted no time to tell everyone how he hated them all and how he had tried to make Iruka's life miserable for years despite being his friend. Hearing Mizuki's rant, Anko would have physically mutilated him had Iruka not decided a much crueller fate, by giving Midori inspiration for her next perverse mockery of the Icha Icha series with Mizuki being paired with Orochimaru. Hearing Iruka's decision, Anko smirked cruelly while Mizuki practically screamed in begging not to give Uzumaki Midori such an idea. Of course, Mizuki's pleas fell on deaf ears and Anko cheerfully said, "Don't worry, we'll be sure to give you the recording once Midori-chan is done with her next book!" Indeed, Midori did write down the next book after a few months and was titled, "Uke Uke Traitorous Hearts". It should be noted that the book also involved Uchiha Itachi.

Shaking his head at the memory of his last meeting with Mizuki, Iruka said, "Still, I never knew that the girl had a thing for writing, or homosexual relationships between men for that matter."

Chucking, Hiruzen said, "Well, she is Naruto's relative so it's probably not surprising that she would be just as unpredictable as he is."

"Like how Shiroko actually likes the "Sunset of Youth" even with Lee and Guy in female underwear?"

Shuddering at the image Hiruzen said, "To be fair, she likes it mainly because she finds it funny. Just be thankful that she did not end up like them and can even calm them down if she needs to."

Nodding in sagely understanding, Iruka said, "Speaking about the books, can you honestly believe that some of our women, including female members of ANBU, actually want "that book" to be legally published?"

"Please don't remind me, I'm still deciding which is worse, angering all those women by refusing or potentially losing Kakashi by accepting." The silver-haired jounin was still recovering from the horror of reading that book. Kakashi's trauma aside, Naruto and his friends were able to gather a surprising amount of intelligence when they broke into the houses to prepare their pranks such as the one they did on the traumatized man. Some of the information they gathered included confirmation that members of the Inuzuka clan do actually eat dog food on occasion as a quick snack while Nara Yoshino has a hidden stash of "special interrogation gear" which she would use on her husband on occasion when feeling particularly frisky. They also managed to discover a number of enemy agents that way as they stole any incriminating documents which the agents carelessly left behind.

Deciding to change the subject, Iruka asked, "So, is it really true that they somehow managed to record EVERYTHING for those 24 hours?"

Smiling, Hiruzen nodded and took out a large scroll as he said, "Midori is quite the genius when it comes to seals and I'm sure that she would be an excellent sealing-specialist if nothing else."

Shaking his head, Iruka said, "Hopefully after they graduate things will calm down somewhat. I doubt the village can withstand another pranking spree of this magnitude too often."

Hiruzen grimaced as he agreed, "Indeed, it won't." He then unexpectedly grinned as he added, "Although it would make an excellent argument to allow the Uzumaki children to graduate!" Both men chuckled in mutual agreement…

Scene Change

Before long, the students have graduated and among the graduates were the Uzumaki siblings and their close friends. However, as the graduates are divided into units consisting of three genins and one jounin, they unfortunately have to accept the fact that they cannot remain together as a single ninja team. Standing before the students was Iruka as he announced, "Team Seven will be Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Your jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi." Naruto groaned while Hinata wore a disappointed expression as Iruka mentioned the next team, "Team Eight will be Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. Your jounin sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai." Iruka then proceeded to mention the next few teams including Team Ten which consisted of Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino with Sarutobi Asume as their sensei. Iruka then surprised everyone with the mention of the thirteenth team, "Team Thirteen will be Uzumaki Midori, Uzumaki Shiroko and Uzumaki Hoyuki. Your jounin sensei will be Mitarashi Anko."

After Iruka finished announcing the teams, Naruto had to ask as he demanded, "Hey, why am I teamed up with the teme and his rabid banshee-fangirl?" Sakura was naturally infuriated but could do nothing against the physically superior Uzumaki boy.

Looking at the boy, Iruka sighed and said, "To be honest, I didn't quite like the idea either but this is Hokage-sama's decision and even I cannot argue with his reasoning." Surprised, Naruto was silent as Iruka added, "If you really want an answer, I suggest you speak to the Hokage directly after meeting your jounin-sensei." Nodding, Naruto knew he would get his answers from the elderly man…

Scene Change

Hiruzen was not surprised when Naruto quickly stormed into his office and demanded an explanation why Naruto was being paired with Sasuke and Sakura, both of whom do not know about Kurama, "I don't really mind the teme so much, even though he's still a pain in the ass, but even you got to admit that pairing me with Pinkie is a bad idea! Not only that, but even I know that Kakashi-sensei is always late, bloody unmotivated and reads porn in public!"

Sighing, Hiruzen said, "That is indeed true. However, from the intelligence we have gathered so far, including the intelligence we obtained thanks to your 24-hour pranking spree, it is clear that Orochimaru wants to capture Sasuke for his Sharingan as it has the ability to copy any ninja technique as long as it is not a special bloodline-specific ability. While there is a chance he may lose interest in the Uchiha now that he has his attention on you and your sisters, we cannot allow that risk especially if it is possible to combine both bloodlines to create a perfect copycat of all forms of ninjutsu including bloodline abilities."

"So in other words, by assigning me as a teammate, I can protect the teme from being taken and used by that Snake-Bastard even if he sends his own Xeno-Hybrids to get him, right?"

"That and anyone else that will want to acquire the Sharingan such as like Danzo. Even the civilian councilmembers that still hate you cannot argue against that logic, at least under the assumption that you will actually bother to protect him."

Sighing, Naruto said, "Okay, I get that, but what about Pinkie?"

"Haruno Sakura is a bit of a unique case as we have reason to believe that her mother may have made shady deals with Danzo's Root. If that is indeed true, then we will need you to keep an eye on her and see if there is anything she might know about it."

"But why me, wouldn't our sensei be better for the job not to mention that Pinkie and I are not exactly on the best of terms?"

"True, but it is better to have a second set of reliable eyes, ears and nose to keep watch over her. Besides, the fact that you no longer have a childish crush on her makes it even easier for the both of us as you will not look at her through rose-tinted lenses. As for Kakashi, I admit that he is not exactly the most inspiring of teachers but he is the only one who can teach Sasuke how to use the Sharingan." Naruto and his sisters already knew about the Sharingan implant on the silver-haired jounin during the conflict against the Xenomorph hybrids in Danzo's secret facility.

Sighing in resignation, Naruto said, "Alright, you've made your point. Just don't be surprised if our teamwork sucks because of the arrangement."

Smiling, Hiruzen thought, "True, but if you can somehow get along with them and even befriend them, then you will be more than ready to become a Hokage who will inevitably have to deal with unpleasant and unreasonable people." The elderly man then said, "Excellent, now why don't you go and spend some time with your friends and sisters who are assigned into the other teams? This may be the last time you can all gather together as a single group for a long while. Also, please don't reveal any of this information to anyone."

Nodding, Naruto quickly left the office to spend time with friends and siblings…

Scene Change

"So let me get this straight, your sensei is the dreaded Copycat Ninja who has supposedly learnt a thousand techniques but is also an unrepentant lover of the Icha Icha series and is apparently chronically late?" asked Kiba. After meeting with Hiruzen, Naruto went straight to Ichiraku Ramen to spend time with his friends and sibling as well as Anko and Iruka who had the day off.

Nodding, Naruto swallowed his mouthful of ramen and said, "That and he actually fell for that "blackboard easer on the door" trick although he might have fallen for it on purpose now that I think about it."

"Damn, you sure got it rough," swore Kiba.

"You think? I got myself a fangirl who hates my guts for kami's sake! Sure the teme and I don't like each other very much but at least he's no longer an arrogant pain the ass which actually makes him a better teammate than her." Over the months before their graduation, Sasuke had begrudgingly come to terms with the fact that the Uzumaki siblings are indeed strong and can easily kill him if they actually want to unless he stops underestimating them. Of course, given his pride, Sasuke will never openly admit it and swore to become strong enough so that he can take on a Xenomorph hive or something equally difficult on his own as he has no doubt that it will prove that he is as strong or stronger that his traitorous brother, Uchiha Itachi. Thanks to the said training, Sasuke had become skilled in using fire-based techniques and weapons including the chakra-powered firearms, especially revolvers.

As for Sakura, it can be said that she had improved surprisingly well over the months as she is at least a competent genin mainly specialized in medical techniques, which is not surprising considering how people can get hurt during the special training sessions. Sakura is also surprisingly skilled in taijutsu and, while still a shallow fangirl with an intense dislike for the "Uzumaki Freaks", is considered the one of smartest girl when it comes to academics for a reason.

"Man, at least your sisters have each other under Anko-san, Shino, Hinata, Akamaru and I am together as a team, and Chouji and Shikamaru are together in their own team with that Ino-girl. Compared to us, you're practically on your own there."

Sighing, Naruto replied, "Yeah. The worst part is that I have to find a way to get along with them which is not going to be easy, I tell you!"

"Considering that Sasuke is still a brooding loner of an avenger and that Sakura is one of his more rabid fangirls, it would not be surprising that getting along with them will be most difficult," said Shino.

Naruto was tempted to make a sarcastic remark about Shino's obvious observation but decided against it as he spoke, "I just hope that I won't get sent back to the academy."

Smiling sympathetically, Iruka said, "While I'm not really supposed to say this, but I can assure you that even if you do fail, you won't fail on your own."

Quirking an eyebrow, Naruto asked, "What do you mean by that, Iruka-sensei?" The other children all gazed at the scarred chuunin out of curiosity as well.

Grinning, Anko answered for Iruka, "Oh, you'll see!"

Scene Change

It was the following day when Kakashi met up with the rest of Team Seven who had waited for him for some time at the bridge. "Sorry I'm late. A black cat walked by and I had to take the longer route to get here."

Infuriated at having to wait, without having any breakfast at that, for at least three hours, Sakura was understandably furious and yelled, "LIAR!" Still having short hair, Sakura wore her forehead protector like a hair-band over her head, a red-dress with white trimming, armour on her forearms and shins, a pouch containing her medical tools and throwing weapons tied onto her left hip and a chakra-magnum tied onto her right thigh.

Sasuke, while less vocal than Sakura, was equally displeased as he glared at the jounin. Dressed in a dark-blue shirt and grey jeans, with weapon pouches tried onto his thighs and charka-revolvers onto his hips, armour on his forearms and shins as well as a vest with hidden pockets to store more weapons and "chakra-batteries", the boy with the forehead protector worn as a belt appeared ready to fight. Not surprisingly, Sakura would have happily gazed at him all day, after having a decent meal of course.

Naruto, who had decided to eat breakfast anyways despite Kakashi's warning not to eat any as their upcoming test to be fully-fledged genin will make them vomit, almost rolled his eyes and said, "Not that I wont to respect the dead, but you really shouldn't spend so much time at that memorial stone."

Surprised, Kakasi asked, "And how do you about that?" While it is certainly no secret within the village, not many people visit the memorial stone which has the names of heroic Konohagakure ninjas that have died in battle carved upon it.

"Well, my sisters and I spend a lot of our time outdoors and we do see you staring at that stone a number of times."

Accepting Naruto's explanation, Kakashi sighed and said, "My bad. It's just that the names of my friends who died in the last war are on that stone." Normally Kakashi would not admit this to his genin-hopefuls but, as Naruto had already known the pain of loss, Kakashi felt no reason to keep it secret from him, or his potential teammates by extension. Sakura wore a sympathetic expression while Sasuke frowned a little deeper than usual as he thought about his clan that died due to the Uchiha Massacre.

Nodding in understanding, Naruto said, "So, what's the test going to be anyway?"

Taking out two bells, Kakashi said, "To pass this test, all you have to do is take one of these bells from me before the timer runs out. Don't worry about holding back and show me everything you've got."

"But, there're only two bells."

Wearing a falsely pleasant smile at Sakura, Kakashi said, "Indeed, because only two of you will pass. The one who fails to get the bells will be forced to return to the academy, and goes home hungry."

While Sakura and Sasuke became concerned over the matter, Naruto thought, "Wait a minute, Iruka-sensei mentioned about me not failing on my own. I may not be very smart like Shino or Shikamaru but I'd sooner believe that I won't be failing all by myself rather than believe what Kakashi had just said." Frowning beneath his mask, which bore the leaf-symbol of Konohagakure on the left side and the spiral symbol of the Uzumaki clan on the right side, Naruto asked, "And what happens when one person gets two bells?"

Surprised by his query, Kakashi decided to humour him and said, "Assuming that you do somehow managed get both bells, you can either fail the other two or pick a person of your choice as your teammate. Why, you can even offer both bells to them although it will mean that you yourself will fail."

Hearing Kakashi's response, Naruto grinned and said, "Well, that will make things easier for me." Crouching low with his tail and clawed hands poised to strike, Naruto growled, "So let's get this party started!"

Seeing no reason to delay any further, Kakashi set the timer on, thus starting the survival match between him and his students. However, rather than hide, both Sasuke and Sakura attacked as Sasuke took out his pair of revolvers and shot small but powerful and fast bolts of pure chakra at Kakashi while Sakura did the same with her magnum which had weaker bolts but can fire more rapidly. "So, this must be the new chakra-firearms that everyone has been raving about lately." Dodging the destructive bolts which created small scorch marks on the ground, Kakashi mused, "While certainly handy for ranged combat, those weapons won't do much good once they run out of chakra not to mention that they need bayonets to be of any practical use in melee combat." Kakashi then noticed that Naruto was nowhere to be found only to suddenly feel a presence behind him. Acting on instinct, Kakashi barely avoided the tail that speared towards the bells and thought, "Good thing I didn't tell them to go at me with killing intent. I'm not really sure if I can actually take them on as they are now without getting into trouble, especially if they really are working together at the moment." Indeed, while it is apparent that Sasuke favours acting on his own while Sakura would try her hardest to be of use to the Uchiha boy while completely ignoring Naruto who is also acting on his own, all three of them seem to be willing to work together for the moment to get the bells. Of course, Kakashi would not be surprised if they take advantage of each other or even fight one another for the bells later. "Then again, considering what I was expecting, they are showing much better teamwork than I thought. Of course, those special training sessions to counter the Xenomorphs do emphasize the need for teamwork."

With his revolvers out of chakra, Sasuke was forced to put them aside and proceeded to use his kunai as he thought, "So this is what jounin-level is like. I'll need to get stronger than that to have a chance against that man. For now though, I'll need their help."

Sakura, seeing that Kakashi did not even have a scratch on him despite the initial attack, thought, "Looks like it really is impossible to take him on without any help." Flexing her armoured fingerless gloves which are connected to the rest of the armour on her forearms, Sakura was ready to attack alongside with Sasuke and even Naruto.

Standing behind Kakashi, not the the man is unaware of his presence, Naruto grinned with saliva dripping down his chin as he thought, "Good, at least those two know that we need to work together to take him on, and seeing that they're getting serious… Xenojutsu, Xeno-Ravager!"

Realizing that all three genin-hopefuls are getting serious, Kakashi sighed and lifted his forehead protector to reveal his usually-hidden trump card, the Sharingan implant. Shocked at the sight of the eye with a red iris and three black tomoe circling around a central black pupil, Sasuke asked, "How…?"

"It was a parting gift I received from a dying friend I lost during the Third Ninja World War, a friend who reminded me what is truly important and whose name is written on that memorial stone." Kakashi's explanation satisfied the Uchiha boy although the silver-haired man knew that Sasuke would demand a more detailed answer after this.

Seeing the interaction between Kakashi and Sasuke, Sakura thought, "That eye, it must have something to do with the Uchiha clan."

Having finished with his transformation which would have torn his clothes to shreds had Midori not thought of a way to store the clothes into a small tattooed onto his skin, Naruto growled, unable to speak vocally due to the changes, "_Ok, show time!_" Roaring, Naruto charged towards Kakashi with borderline killing intent. As if on cue, Sasuke did a handseal and breathed a ball of fire towards Kakashi. Sakura meanwhile charged towards Kakashi with chakra glowing in her gloved hands. Almost surprised by the well-coordinated attack, Kakashi was forced to replace himself with a random log. However, Naruto suddenly appeared behind him and stuck with his tail, forcing Kakashi to block it with a kunai. Roaring, thus alerting Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto spat hive webbing at Kakashi and would have captured him had Kakashi not suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke as soon as the webbing came into contact. Realizing what had happened, Naruto snarled, "_Damn, a shadow-clone._"

Scene Change

Some distance away from the three students, Kakashi dug himself out of the ground and thought, "Well, that went better for them than expected. Naruto's tail and special techniques are a real pain though." Looking at the forested surroundings, Kakashi decided to prepare a few traps for the genin-hopefuls…

Scene Change

Meanwhile, Naruto gazed at Sasuke and Sakura before he spoke, "_We need to find Kakashi, and fast._"

"I'm assuming that you'll take the lead the search if we decide to work together?" asked Sasuke.

Nodding, Naruto said, "_You can follow me if you want. Just don't expect me to do ALL the work._"

Huffing, Sasuke argued, "Like you have a chance fighting against a jounin on your own."

Glowing in mild displeasure, Naruto said, "_Just be sure to cover my back until we at least get the bells and Kakashi is down for the count. Then we can go at each other's throats, assuming that at least one of us really has to fail._"

Quirking an eyebrow, Sakura asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"_I got a helpful hint from Iruka-sensei yesterday and I have a feeling we might be passing AND failing as a team. Regardless, we need to find those bells._"

"Agreed," replied Sasuke.

Deciding to change his form, Naruto said, "_Xenojutsu, Xeno-Stalker._" Assuming a form similar to that of a panther with digitigrade legs and paw-like hands, Naruto then stalked off into the trees. "_Just don't get lost trying to follow me._"

Seeing that Naruto has already set off and was quickly becoming difficult to find, Sasuke and Sakura followed him as Sakura whispered, "Do you really think that it's a good idea to trust him, Sasuke-kun?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Sasuke said, "Between the three of us he has the most experience in hunting and even I doubt that he would lie to us about what his favourite sensei had told him. Besides, he'll make good bait by taking the lead."

"_You two do realize that I can hear you both, right?_"

"Yes," deadpanned Sakura and Sasuke.

Scene Change

Observing the interaction between the three genin-hopefuls, a shadow-clone of Kakashi thought, "I'm not sure if I should be amused or worried about this team." While they are willing to work together towards a common goal, it was clear that they will probably not get along with one another anytime soon. "Well, at least they're being openly honest about it." He then dispelled himself to relay what he had learnt to the real Kakashi who is hiding elsewhere…

Scene Change

Sighing, Naruto silently swore, "_Hokage-jiji, you are so going to owe me for this!_" Naruto then smelled something and grinned as he informed Sasuke and Sakura, "_Hey, I got the scent!_" Breathing in Kakashi's scent, Naruto realized something was wrong as he verbally hissed, thus alerting the two behind him of traps.

Hiding in the bushes, Kakashi thought, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this. That boy is not only a hunter but a pretty devious prankster who had made traps that caught even me."

Meanwhile, Naruto executed his technique, "_Xenojutsu, Xeno-Praetorian._" Changing his form, Naruto then summoned a small swarm of Shadow-Xenomorphs, mainly runners and drones, and said, "_You, go and disarm those traps and keep and keep your eyes peeled for Kakashi._"

As the runners and drones set off, Sakura asked, "You do know they don't have eyes, right?" Part of the special training to combat Xenomorphs includes understanding their alien biology.

"_Of course I do. It's just a figure of speech._"

"So do we wait or do we proceed?" asked Sasuke. As much as he hated to rely on others, he learnt to tolerate it after failing a number of times during the special training sessions and getting reprimanded, harshly at that, by the Uzumaki sisters for trying to act on his own when he could be working together with his "teammates" thus succeeding as a group. If even someone who is usually as childishly cheerful as Midori is being cold and serious, not to mention terrifyingly brutal as Sasuke learnt the hard way when he tried to ignore them, only a fool would ignore their words or lie about listening to them.

"_We proceed with caution. I am connected to my swarm so we'll know if they find any… Bingo!_"

Scene Change

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise, Kakashi just knew he was in trouble as he leapt out of his hiding place on instinct and saw a serpentine form erupt from the ground he was on a moment ago. Seeing the creature which looks like an oversized Xenomorph chestburster with a crested head and no limbs, Kakashi knew it was a Xenomorph Slither. Grinning, the creature which is actually Naruto said, "_Got you!_"

Suddenly, hive webbing was spat from Naruto's shadow-drones from all directions around the silver-haired jounin. Doing a kawimari technique, Kakashi was barely able to replace himself with a random shadow-drone and was about to make a run for it when he dodged a fist which left an impressive crater in the ground upon impact. "Okay, I definitely don't want Sakura to hit me!" Kakashi's musings was cut short when Sasuke appeared from above and breathed a powerful fireball towards him. When the flames died out, everyone realized that Kakashi was nowhere to be seen, not that it really surprized them.

"Okay, any new ideas? We're running out of time here."

Hearing Sasuke's query, Naruto sighed and said, "_I do, but I'd rather not resort to using that technique._"

Arching an eyebrow, Sasuke asked, "And why's that?"

"_Well… let's just say it involves an audio recording of one of Midori's damned yaoi-themed writings and, no matter how much I love her as her brother, I'll never read or listen to those things ever again. They're even worse than that smut Kakashi reads!_"

Tilting her head, Sakura asked, "Really? I personally think they're pretty good."

Both Naruto and Sasuke stared at her as though she just grew a second head and had a common thought, "Note to self, never give her reason to think that we're gay!" However, thanks to Sakura's apparent "immunity", they were able to get the bells from Kakashi by using one of Midori's recording-seals which has an audio recording of "Uke Uke Brokeback Konoha", a genjutsu to visualize the said audio recording, earplugs for both Naruto and Sasuke, and allowing Sakura to seize the bells from Kakashi while he was "incapacitated".

After Kakashi recovered, which took about an hour, he realized that Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had really fought each other after getting the bells with Sasuke winning due to having Sakura's help. Assuming that only two people at most can pass, Naruto would have to return back to the academy although all three genin-hopefuls have the sneaking suspicion that the test is about teamwork thanks to the titbit of information Naruto received from Iruka on the day before. Normally, Kakashi would have failed all three of them immediately for turning on each other but, due to the fact that they have at least suspected the true nature of the test and that they mutually agreed to have a battle royal just in case Iruka's information was incorrect, Kakashi decided to give them a second chance after making it clear that they cannot share their lunchboxes with Naruto…

Scene Change

Naruto, who technically "failed" due to losing to the team up between Sasuke and Sakura, although it can be said that Sasuke never asked for her help, was tied onto the log. Of course, all three genin-hopefuls have the sneaking suspicion that Kakashi has a bone to pick with Naruto for traumatizing him a second time with "that accursed perversion of the Icha Icha series". Despite having breakfast unlike the other two, Naruto was nevertheless feeling hungry as he watched forlornly at Sasuke and Sakura who ate their lunch ravenously. Seeing Naruto's obviously unhappy drooling expression, Sakura sighed and said, "Here, you can have my leftovers." As much as she hated to admit it, Naruto's help was invaluable as they would not have been able to track Kakashi so easily, or avoid his more elaborate traps, without him. While still a hopeless Uchiha fangirl who dislikes the Uzumaki siblings, even she was aware that she only won against Naruto because she chose to work together with Sasuke from the start.

Seeing her action, Sasuke grunted in agreement as he offered Naruto his own "leftovers" and said, "Like it or not, we're probably going to need you again. Kakashi may have said that we can't share food with you since you technically failed but he never said anything about us leaving leftovers. Besides, they don't taste that good." As much as Sasuke hated the idea of risking failure by defying orders, he felt obligated to at least help the blond boy, who did help them get the bells to fight over in the first place not matter how much Sasuke dislike admitting it even to himself, a bit. The fact that Naruto is a worthwhile rival to test his abilities unlike Sakura is yet another reason to get the blond boy to pass the test.

Seeing the offered food, Naruto grinned and said, "Thanks!" Suddenly, the boy morphed his tongue into a set of Xenomorph pharyngeal jaws and proceeded to devour the offered "leftovers". Needless to say, both Sasuke and Sakura were disgusted.

Seeing the interaction between the three students from his hiding place, Kakashi smiled and thought, "Looks like I'll have a genin team of my own after all…"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: This chapter marks the end of the "Pre-Graduation" arc and the beginning of the cannon timeline which WILL be different due to the involvement of the Xenomorphs. Hope you like this chapter (including the pranking-spree which even I though was pretty overboard) despite the team arrangements.


	11. Chapter 10

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 10: From D to C and Above**

It had been a month ever since Team Seven was formed and they were currently undertaking one of the most infamous missions the ninjas of Konohagakure has ever known…

"This is Banshee, target has moved to your location, Raven."

Nodding in acknowledgement, another voice known as Raven replied, "Understood. Xeno, I'm intercepting the target now. Be ready for its arrival at your location."

"Got it, just make sure not to kill the target this time."

Snorting, Raven said, "I should be more worried about you killing the target."

Before Xeno and Raven could argue, a fourth voice interrupted, "Everyone, we can banter later after we complete the mission. For now, please focus on capturing the target UNHARMED."

Understanding the order, Banshee, Raven and Xeno replied, "Acknowledged, Cyclops."

Scene Change

Tora, a runaway cat with a red ribbon on its right ear, was running for its dear life as it was being hunted. Not by mere armatures or children, whom it can avoid and even strike back, but true hunters that can kill it and had, amongst other things, shot blue bolts of pure energy, breathed flames and even sent monsters of nightmares at it. The only group of hunters worse than that particular group is that one group comprised of three females similar to that tailed monster-summoner. Tora shivered as it recalled how they summoned their own monsters, which can spit acid and black webbing, and even changed into monsters themselves to hunt it down. Needless to say, the cat would never want to face them ever again. Even so, Tora would take that risk for its freedom from that demon which seemed hell-bent to hug it into suffocated oblivion.

Sensing danger, a sense it has honed after years of avoiding its less dangerous pursuers, the cat barely avoided getting caught by a raven-haired boy who was using a net to capture it. Running away from the boy, Tora was thankful that he had not decided to breath fire again as it was almost burnt alive at that incident after it landed onto his head, with bared claws, and used it as a jumping platform. The pink-haired hunter was no better either as she almost turned the cat into a bloody paste when she tried to punch it after scratching her face with its claws. The worst however had to be the tailed blond boy as he was the monster-summoner like those three tailed girls that still haunt its nightmares.

Dashing out of the bushes into a circular clearing, the cat suddenly heard, "Gotcha!" Recognizing that voice, the cat froze in both shock and terror as it saw monsters with black chitin for skin rising out of the shadows led by that same accursed tailed boy. Tora's fur were ramrod straight as the cat hissed in impotent fury at the drooling eyeless monsters with clawed hands and feet, sharp teeth and bladed tails. Grinning manically, the blond boy said, "Now be a good little kitty and hold still."

As the monsters charged forwards to capture, Tora's cries of terror and despair could be heard throughout the forest…

Scene Change

Madam Shijimi, a chubby woman and the wife of the Fire Daimyo, was hugging her precious Tora, which was currently wrapped in black resinous webbing, and was glaring angrily at Team Seven as a sheepish Kakashi explained, "Well… in our defence, we did exercise a lot more restraint this time." Indeed, the last time they captured Tora, Sasuke almost cooked it alive with his fire jutsu while Sakura almost pounded it into meat sauce and tried to shoot it with her chakra-magnum. Naruto on the other hand was using the same capture strategy as before but suffered a whole lot less scratches than before.

Glaring at the man, Madam Shimiji said, "Be thankful that we're in a hurry and that your team of savages is the most efficient capture team available!" Hugging Tora more closely, to the cat's pained despair, she added, "And don't think I've forgotten that your tailed boy had dared to tell me that I'm mistreating my precious Tora-chan after what he and the rest of your team had done to it!" Turning away with a haughty huff, Madam Shimiji left the Hokage's office while hugging her cat to comfort it. Unfortunately for Tora, her overly affectionate and tight hugs are giving pain and terror rather than comfort and safety.

Seeing the chubby woman leave, Hiruzen sighed and said, "That went better than expected." The last time Team Seven set off to capture the cat, Madam Shimiji almost got her husband to cut all funding to Konohagakure. Turning his gaze upon Naruto, he asked, "Did you honestly have to use your shadow drones and hive-webbing to capture Tora, again?"

"Have you ever tried to capture an animal with five sharp ends out of six with your bare hands without harming it, Hokage-jiji?" asked Naruto.

Nodding in empathic understanding, Hiruzen said, "Well, since your team has already completed that D-ranked mission, and quite quickly at that, I suppose I could give you some more missions to deal with."

"No offence Hokage-jiji but can't we take a C-ranked this time? We've been doing D-ranked for a whole month now and I doubt we'll get any better as ninjas if we keep doing those missions." Inwardly, Naruto thought, "Not to mention that even the most patient of hunters have their limits. I mean, seriously, weeding gardens and painting fences?"

Considering Naruto's request, Hiruzen had to admit that Naruto did have a point. In fact, the four genin teams formed out of Naruto's graduating class are quite frankly outstanding in their ability to work together to accomplish missions and are already quite ready to undertake the less dangerous C-ranked missions. Iruka, who was standing beside Hiruzen to help him with mission assignments, however was a bit ambivalent due to his desire to protect Naruto despite already knowing of his abilities. While understanding of Iruka's worry, Hiruzen had faith in Naruto as he asked Kakashi, "Do you feel that they are ready for a C-rank?"

Nodding, Kakashi said, "More than ready in fact." Despite their differences and disagreements, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are willing to work together as a team to accomplish their missions and are strong enough individually to at least take on lower-ranked chuunin.

Seeing that Kakashi and his entire team are willing to take a C-ranked mission, Hiruzen said, "Very well. Team Seven, your mission is to protect a bridge builder named Tazuna from the moment you escort him out of these walls until he finishes his bridge at the Land of Waves."

Grinning, Naruto said, "Alright, thanks Hokage-jiji!"

Chuckling, Hiruzen turned his attention to a resigned but hopeful Iruka and said, "Please bring in the client."

A moment later, Iruka returned with a bespectacled elderly man with grey hair, including his short beard, and wore a pointed hat, a pair of glasses and carries a towel around his neck. Looking at the children after taking another swig of his bottle of sake, the man who must be Tazuna commented, "Hey, I requested for ninjas, not a bunch of brats including a super weird one."

Well aware of who is the "super weird brat", Naruto raised his bladed tail and said, "You have no idea, old man."

Raising an eyebrow at the boy's unexpected response, Tazuna decided not to comment further about his weird getup including his tail, dorsal vents and clawed hands and feet. Besides, drunk or not, even he knew children do not normally have these traits.

Stepping forward, Kakashi said, "While my genin team are indeed young children who have just recently graduated from the academy this year, I can assure you that I am more than competent enough to protect not only them but you as well, Tazuna-san."

Impressed by the man whom even he knew as the famous Copycat Ninja, Tazuna said, "Right, let's get going then. The sooner we leave with your brats, the sooner I can get my bridge done!"

After Tazuna left, Team Seven was about to leave as well to prepare for the mission when Hiruzen requested, "Naruto, Kakashi, please stay here. I need to discuss with you both concerning Naruto's unique traits." Well aware what traits Hiruzen was talking about, as it is quite hard not to notice Naruto's tail and dorsal vents, both Sasuke and Sakura did not think to ask about it as they left.

Once they are sure that Sakura and Sasuke are out of earshot, Naruto asked, "So, it is about my "Xeno-problem" or my "fuzzy problem"?"

"The former actually although, now that you mentioned about it, I would like to know if both of your teammates know about the latter yet," replied Hiruzen.

Shaking his head, Naruto said, "No, I don't really trust them and we both know why."

Well aware of Haruno Yutani, who is one of Nartuto's more aggressive tormentors, and the masked Uchiha, who had attacked Konohagakure on the day Naruto was born, Hiruzen sighed and said, "While I understand your distrust, please remember that they are your teammates, not your tormentors despite blood relations, and that sooner or later they will realize about Kurama."

Suddenly, Naruto's voice changed as he spoke, "_**Perhaps, but we both know that those two brats are not exactly the most observant when it comes to my vessel.**_"

Unperturbed by the change in the boy's voice, Hiruzen argued, "Maybe so, Kurama, but even a blind man can feel your chakra and I highly doubt that they will miss your presence should Naruto ever decides to call fourth your power."

Snorting, the Kurama-possessed Naruto said, "_**Point, but until my vessel decides to call fourth my power they will remain ignorant of me which is for the best considering who his teammates are related to despite your claims.**_" After a moment of silent pause, Naruto's voice changed back to normal as he spoke, "Damn, that felt weird." Inwardly, the boy complained, "And don't butt into my mind so suddenly like that next time!"

"_**Just be glad that we're in relatively amicable terms despite everything that has happened, brat. Otherwise I would have killed you and the rest of your damned village for my years of imprisonment,**_" replied Kurama who did not even bother to hide that statement from Hiruzen or Kakashi.

Sighing, Hiruzen said, "Nevertheless, be prepared for the possibility of using Kurama's powers during this mission. Even a kage can die from a mortal injury."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto said, "Gotcha, so what about my "Xeno-problem"?"

"We have reason to believe that there may be a drug market in the Land of Waves, a drug known as Chakra-Zip. We managed to get a sample of the drug and found out that it is actually a derivative of Xenomorph Royal Jelly," explained Hiruzen.

Narrowing his eyes beneath his mask, Naruto growled, "Which means that Orochimaru or Danzo may be involved."

Nodding in grim confirmation, Hiruzen said, "With that possibility, the mission may be easily B or A-ranked, S-ranked even if Orochimaru or Danzo are directly involved."

Concerned, Kakashi asked, "Do you believe that Tazuna-san is involved with the drug dealing?"

Shaking his head, Hiruzen said, "Unlikely, we had Naruto's sisters check him and they said that he does not smell of it."

"Well, if they can't smell the stuff on him then he's not likely to be even exposed to the stuff," said Naruto who then added, "That doesn't answer who's in charge of that market though, assuming there is one."

"Indeed, that is why I need you and Kakashi to investigate this matter while protecting Tazuna-san. If there is indeed one, inform me immediately and I will send reinforcements." Hiruzen then pointedly added, "DO NOT engage the enemy before they arrive."

"Understood, Hokage-sama/jiji," replied both Naruto and Kakashi.

Scene Change

Before long, Team Seven have assembled at the gates of Konohagakure with their client. Once a man whose name is often associated with tardiness, Kakashi had been forced to be on time even during non-missions due to Naruto threatening him with exposure to more of Midori's Uke Uke. Needless to say, the man begrudgingly agreed to everyone's amusement.

Present to see them off were the guards, a man with brown hair that covers his right eye named Kamizuki Izumo and a man with spiky black hair, dark eyes, has a light-coloured marking on his chin and wears bandages over the bridge of his nose named Hagane Kotetsu. Also present were Naruto's sisters with their jounin leader, Anko. Unlike the other teams, their missions mostly involved improving the village's security as well as help educate people, including academy students and genin, how to combat enemy Xenomorphs. As such, most of their missions tend to be within the village even though many of them are C-ranked by nature. Grinning at his sisters, Naruto asked, "You girls dropped by to see us off?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied, "_Take care of yourself, brother._"

Shiroko nodded in agreement with Hoyuki while Midori happily chirped, "_Be sure to bring us some souvenirs, Naru-niichan!_"

Smirking, Anko added, "Just be sure to be on your toes while on this mission. It's your first time being outside the village and while I'd love to hear how you got caught with your pants down, failing the mission or getting killed is a big no even for me. Iruka will never be the same if anything permanently bad happens to you."

Giving Team Thirteen a thumb's up, Naruto promised, "Will do, Anko-neechan!"

"Are you done yet? We're in a bit of a super hurry here," said Tazuna who could not help but be unnerved by the "family resemblance" between Naruto with his three sisters. More sober than before, Tazuna was forced to realize that the children's tails, dorsal vents and clawed limbs are indeed real. The fact that they all wore the same mask which hides their eyes and that the girls all spoke with telepathy only made them appear even more unnerving.

Turning his attention to Tazuna, Naruto said, "Yeah, I'm just about done." At the same time as he spoke, Naruto secretly informed his sisters that he and Kakashi will investigate about the Chakra-Zip via telepathy. He then turned his attention to his sisters and said, "We'll I better get going for my first C-rank. I'll tell you girls how it went once we get back."

Unexpectedly, the three girls all gave Naruto a hug as Hoyuki spoke, "_We'll wait for your return, brother._"

Smiling, Naruto hugged them back and said, "And I'll definitely come back even if my tail, arms and legs are broken, believe it!"

Scene Change

After leaving the village, Team Seven made their way towards the Land of Waves. As they travelled, Tazuna had to ask Naruto who is taking the forward position while Kakashi took the rear and Sakura and Sasuke walked beside the bridge builder, "Say, why do you keep your eyes hidden like that? It's super creepy, you know!"

Grinning, Naruto answered, "Exactly!"

Blinking at Naruto's reply, Tazuna was speechless for a moment until he asked, "And your super weird parts?"

Raising his tail for emphasis, Naruto replied, "As real as any other part of my body."

"…Do I even want to know how you and your sisters became that way?" asked Tazuna.

Remembering that terrible scary night-time story during Hoyuki's first field trip with the rest of her classmates, Sakura quickly said, "No, you're much better off not knowing. I couldn't sleep properly for days because of it!"

Staring at the pink-haired girl's grimacing expression, Tazuna wisely chose not to pry for details from Naruto when the tailed boy suddenly said, "Everyone, wait."

Stopping, everyone wondered what was wrong until Kakashi noticed a puddle on the road. While Sakura, Sasuke and Tazune were still clueless, Kakashi thought, "Of course, Naruto has been a hunter for months now and he of all people would notice that a puddle in the middle of the road despite not having any rain for days is suspicious."

"What is it, dobe?" asked Sasuke. While acknowledging Naruto as his equal, at best, Sasuke never really got rid of his habit of calling Naruto dobe, the dead last.

Without further notice, Naruto spat a small greenish blob at the puddle which arced into the air before landing into the puddle. Raising an eyebrow, Sakura had to ask, "Okay, was that really necessary?" She got her answer quickly enough when two masked men who are connected to one another by a bladed chain attached to their clawed gauntlets burst out of the puddle while screaming about their burning eyes.

Turning his attention towards the others, Naruto asked, "Does that answer your question?"

Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna nodded in affirmation while Kakashi calmly spoke, "Well, might as well as start asking these two."

Scene Change

Due to being incapacitated by the Naruto's acidic spit, the two men who are also known as the Demon Brothers were easily captured. However, as the acidic spit was diluted by their water-based technique, they suffered no permanent damage and their eyes were soon treated by Sakura.

Staring at the two glaring men who wore rebreather masks which covered their lower faces including their noses, Kakashi asked, "Alright, who sent you and who's your target?"

"Like hell we're going to tell you anything!" spat the Demon Brother whose forehead protector bore two horns, Meizu.

Smiling, Kakashi replied, "Is that so?" Turning his attention to Naruto, he said, "Naruto, if you may?"

Nodding in acknowledgement, Naruto stepped forward and said, "Xenojutsu, Shadow-Burster." Creating a shadow-burster which coiled around Meizu's neck, Naruto threatened him, "Either you start talking or I'll have my little friend here hurt you." To prove his point, Naruto ordered the hissing shadow-burster to coil more tightly around the man's neck while its fanged mouth seemed ready to bite his ear off.

Unnerved by Naruto's technique, Meizu was close to cracking when his brother, who wears a forehead protector that bears a single horn known as Gouzu, growled, "Why don't you ask your client? I'm sure he'd love to tell you why we're after his life."

Surprised by the revelation, as confrontation against enemy ninjas are usually B-ranked above, Kakashi turned his attention to Tazuna and asked, "Tazuna-san, is it true that they are after your life?"

Realizing that he could no longer hide his deception, Tazuna's shoulders slumped as he sighed, "It is probably true."

Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi asked, "Why?"

Sighing, Tazune proceeded to explain, "Unless I'm mistaken, there's a super dangerous man who's after my life, a man rich enough to hire ninjas to do his dirty work."

"And who might that man be?" asked Kakash.

"You're probably heard about him already, the shipping tycoon, Gatou."

Hearing the identity of the man who may want Tazuna dead, Kakashi asked, "Gatou, as in the man in charge of Gatou Shipping Cooperation?"

Nodding, Tazuna said, "The one and the same. Officially, he's the leader of a shipping cooperation but he also secretly controls the black market including drugs, weapons and even slaves. Using gang members and even ninjas to enforce his control with violence as well as underhanded bribes, that man had taken control of Wave a year ago and now has complete monopoly over the shipping activities which we rely on for our economy. The only thing he fears of now is the completion of the bridge which will break his monopoly over our country's economy."

"I'm assuming that you cannot afford to pay for better protection due to that monopoly," said Kakashi.

"Our country is really super poor so I really can't afford for better protection even if I wanted to," replied Tazuna.

Having a better understanding of Tazuna's admittedly desperate situation, Kakashi turned his attention towards his students and said, "Due to the involvement of enemy ninjas, this mission is now beyond the current norm of a typical C-ranked mission. While Naruto has done a good job in dealing with the infamous Demon Brothers, I'll rather not take any further risks unless you are all in for it."

Stepping forward, Naruto said, "I'm in. It's going to take a lot more than a couple of obvious flunkies for ninjas to scare me."

While Meizu and Gouzu growled in obvious displeasure, Sasuke said, "I'm with the dobe here. If these two are the best Gatou can send to kill our client, I doubt our mission will be all that dangerous for us. We've faced worse back at the academy than this." Sakura nodded in wholehearted agreement with Sasuke, not just because she's a fangirl but also because it is the truth. Compared to facing a whole swarm of Shadow-Xenomorphs which are allowed to freely attack in any way as long as no permanent physical damage is done, the two careless Demon Brothers are hardly anything special other than their willingness to maim and kill.

Seeing that all three genin are in agreement, Kakashi said, "Alright, but just in case, I'm sending word to Hokage-sama about the circumstances of this mission and to request for backup." Hearing no argument, Kakashi proceeded to summon one of his ninja dogs and sent it off to send the message to Hiruzen. Leaving a few shadow-drones behind to make sure that the Demon Brothers would not escape, the Konohagakure ninjas proceeded on with their mission…

Scene Change

Before long, Team Seven and their client arrived at the Land of Wave without further incident. Disembarking from a small boat that brought them across, the group then made their way towards Tazuna's home.

Thanks to his unique senses which are not impaired by dark or misty conditions, Naruto was the first to notice that something was off when he stopped walking and telepathically spoke to the rest of his team, "_Guy's, we might have trouble heading our way._"

"Hearing" Naruto's warning, the rest of Team Seven knew that they could be in serious danger as the immediately braced themselves for combat. It did not take very long for Naruto's warning to come true as the mist suddenly became thicker while a voice chuckled and asked, "Tell me, what exactly gave me away?" Stepping out of the mist was a tall muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes and hardly any eyebrows who is also dressed in baggy pants, wrist and leg warmers, a belt in place of a shirt to hold a huge large cleaver-like sword on his back as well as bandages to cover his nose and mouth and a Kirigakure headband tied sideways on his head.

"Like we're going to tell you!" growled Naruto as he assumed his Xeno-Ravager form. Both Tazuna and Zabuza were shocked as Naruto changed into a monster with long claws and no eyes.

Recognizing the man, Kakashi said, "Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, formerly one of the Seven Swordsmen until becoming a missing-nin due to attempting to betray the Mizukage of Kirigakure."

Taking his eyes off the admittedly dangerous-looking monster-boy, Zabuza smirked and said, "And you must be Hatake Kakashi, the famous Copycat ninja of Konohagakure whom rumours claimed had copied over a thousand different ninja techniques thanks to your Sharingan implant."

Not taking his eyes off the former Kirigakure ninja, Kakashi asked, "Did Gatou hire you as well to kill our client?"

"To put it in one word, yes," replied Zabuza before disappearing back into the mist. Tense, everyone could hear his voice as he ominously spoke from seemingly everywhere from within the mist around them, ""Eight points... Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, lungs, heart... which will I use to kill you...?"

While Sakura and Sasuke were trembling slightly with fear, to Zabuza's mild surprise as he never knew that they had already experienced killing intent from Naruto's sisters, Naruto calmly spoke, "_Personally, I'd rather not be picky but if I have to choose a point, I'd choose the neck or the lungs. I'd rather not destroy the liver, heart or the brain though since they're pretty tasty after you cook them._"

Blinking, Zabuza was stunned for a moment before he laughed, "You're alright, for a Konohagakure genin anyway." Suddenly appearing behind Kakashi, he added, "But you still have a long way to go before you even have a chance against me." Swinging his sword, the man would have decapitated Kakashi had he not ducked low and countered with a kick which forced him to back away.

While he had expected Kakashi be able to avoid getting killed, he certainly did not expect Naruto to attack as the boy spat acid at him as he dodged Kakashi's kick. Blocking the acid with his sword, Zabuza's eyes widened in shock as the acid ate away his weapon. With his sword weakened by the acid, Zabuza knew that he was biting more than he could chew as Sakura and Sasuke took out their chakra-firearms and shot bots of chakra at him. Not wanting to damage his sword further, Zabuza was forced to dodge the bolts and retreat back into the mist where they would not able to take aim at him. Glaring at the three genin, Zabuza silently growled, "Damn, I definitely need to rethink my strategy!"

"If you think that you have time to rethink your strategy, think again."

Shocked, Zabuza turned around and barely avoided being stabbed in the back by a kunai as he deflected the blow. Holding the kunai was Kakashi who had revealed his Sharingan and spoke, "Your life ends here, Momochi Zabuza."

Rather than argue against Kakashi, Zabuza instead smirked as he spoke, "Assuming you even find the right one."

Realizing his mistake, Kakashi barely avoided getting cleaved into two as another Zabuza appeared behind him and swung his sword. While weakened by Naruto's acid, the sword still possesses enough edge and durability to easily kill a man. Glaring at the two identical swordsmen, Kakashi swore, "Damn, a water clone."

Smirking at Kakashi, Zabuza made a second clone and sent the both of them to attack the three children and their client. Knowing that elemental clones generally possess only a small portion of the original's chakra reserves at best, Kakashi restrained his sense of relief as he continued to fight against the masked opponent…

Scene Change

As Kakashi fought against Zabuza, Sasuke and Sakura were holding off Zabuza's clones with their chakra-firearms while Naruto assumed a different form, "_Xenojutsu, Xeno-Drone._"

Looking almost like his default form, minus his clothes, with the exception of having a complete dome covering the upper part of his head as well as more extensive chitin armour, Naruto proceeded to spit globs of hive webbing which explode upon impact to ensnare the distracted clones. With the clones ensnared, Naruto did his next move, "_Xeno-Jutsu, Acid Web!_" Upon saying the command, the hive webbing secreted acid which dispelled the two water clones…

Scene Change

Realizing that his two clones have been easily dispelled, Zabuza swore as he asked, "Since when did you Konohagakure softies become so damned competent?" While his clones could easily avoid and deflect the chakra-projectiles, the missing-nin had to admit that the acidic webbing is new even to him.

Smiling in pride for his students as well as in amusement at Zabuza's growing unease, Kakashi said, "Let's just say a lot has happened over the past year and leave it at that."

Peering at the smiling man, Zabuza mentally deadpanned, "Understatement of the damned week." Deflecting Kakashi's thrown kunai, Zabuza decided to retreat quickly as he shrouded himself in mist and quickly fled from the masked man while under the cover of the mist. Confident in his ability to move silently, Zabuza quickly dove into a river and swam away while he left another pair of water clones to distract Kakashi and his admittedly dangerous genin. While confident that he can defeat Kakashi, even he knew better than to take him on and his genin at the same time even though they have a client to protect. Having decided that fighting against that particular team was not worth the current pay he was offered by Gatou, Zabuza thought, "I'm definitely demanding a damned raise for this mission!"

Scene Change

After realizing that the real Zabuza had fled, Team Seven chose not to continue pursuing him as their job is to protect Tazuna, not hunt down the missing-nin from Kirigakure. Considering that Zabuza had fled by river and that Kirigakure ninjas are generally even more dangerous while in their element of water, not even Sasuke argued with Kakashi as he told the team to proceed escorting Tazuna to his home. Before they proceeded however, Naruto created a few shadow-bursters to scout around and find any information about Zabuza and Gatou. While it is true that finding information about the man that wants Tazuna dead and his hired assassin is indeed advantageous, Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna did not know that Naruto also did it to find out about the Chakra-Zip drug. Then again, Gatou is an infamous shipping tycoon so drug-dealing is hardly surprising regardless.

Before long, the team and their client returned home without further incident. Greeting them was a dark-haired young woman named Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, who was glad that her father had returned safely although she was deeply apologetic towards the Konohagakure ninjas that have been duped to undertake the mission. Waving his hand dismissively, Kakashi reassured her, "That's alright, Tsunami-san, we chose to continue with the mission regardless and will be receiving reinforcements soon."

Next to appear was a boy wearing a hat which partially his hid dark eyes. Staring at them, the boy simply said, "You're all going to die."

Blinking, Naruto asked, "Who the hell is the gloomy kid?"

Insulted, the boy shouted, "Just go back to whatever place you came from! No one can beat Gatou and he'll kill you for even trying!" Before anyone could say anything, the boy rushed back upstairs to his room.

Seeing the boy go, Tsunami sighed sadly and explained, "That was my son, Inari. Please forgive his behaviour, he wasn't always like that."

Sighing, Tazuna muttered, "The boy had not been the same ever since Kaiza died."

Due to his keen hearing, Naruto heard the name and asked, "Kaiza?"

"Inari's adoptive father, and a brave man who dared to stand up to Gatou," explained Tsunami who wore a sorrowful expression.

Realizing what had happened, Naruto nodded in understanding as he spoke, "We will help your father complete that bridge, believe it."

Smiling gratefully, Tsunami thanked the strange boy…

Scene Change

After eating dinner, which Inari rudely refused to join, Naruto excused himself and left the house. Hiding under the shadows, he assumed his Xeno-Praetorian form to communicate with his shadow-bursters which are still exploring the area. Upon assuming his Xeno-form, Naruto's mind was flooded by the memories of his bursters as he mentally thought, "_Okay, managed to locate Zabuza's hideout… and that shorty has got to be Gatou if his rich slime-ball attitude is anything to go by… damn, that pretty girl managed to find and kill my bursters at the hideout… found some of Gatou's buildings and man they're loaded with stuff…! Bingo! Found the Xeno-Zip stuff and… oh sweet mother of Kami…!_"

Naruto's last thought accidentally became a telepathic message thus alerting everyone in Tazuna's house of his distress. Although unable to find Naruto's exact location, Kakashi and Naruto's teammates nevertheless knew his general location thanks to his telepathy and thus appeared as the masked jounin worriedly asked, "What is it, Naruto?"

Trembling, Naruto explained, "_… the Source… Gatou has the Source!_"

It took a moment to understand Naruto's panicked explanation before all three other ninjas paled in horror as they realized what Naruto meant. Quickly swallowing his growing terror, Kakashi asked, "Are you certain of this?"

Nodding, Naruto explained, "_It's not the real deal… but it's definitely similar to it!_"

While Sakura stifled her gasp by placing her hands over her mouth, Sasuke asked, "How similar are we talking about here?"

"_Similar enough to turn anyone into a Xenomorph-hybrid,_" said Naruto.

"And the other types of Mala'Kak bioweapons?" asked Kakashi.

Shaking his head Naruto said, "_Probably not, but this mission is pretty much S-Ranked as it is now!_"

Trembling, Sakura asked, "But how… how did Gatou manage to get his hands on the Black Liquid?" Being one of the brighter students when it comes to academics, Sakura knew full well that the Black Liquid was the pinnacle of the Mala'Kak's self-adaptive bioweapons before it led to the creation of the Xenomorphs which also consider the Black Liquid as their "Source". A highly contagious mutagen, the Black Liquid is capable of mutating any life form into deadly monstrosities which the Mala'Kak can then use as their standard bioweapons and the Xenomorphs were not the only horrific results.

Parasite-X which can perfectly mimic their hosts right down to their memories and health defects as well transform themselves into horrific mockeries of their hosts when provoked to fight, including breaking apart into smaller monsters or fusing together into horrors of titanic proportions, and can only be killed by complete cellular destruction through fire…

The Flood, a species of parasites which infest their hosts and then feed on their dying or decaying bodies to either multiply or grow into their "true forms" which include their biological starships…

Ichor, a plant-like life form which leech the land of its minerals, thereby leaving it completely barren, to produce deceptively beautiful crystals that will either kill or mutate any nearby living being as well as generate vicious ionic storms…

Needless to say, just the mere idea that the Black Liquid has been recreated, even if it is only to a limited extent as the Xenomorphs are ironically one of the more controllable resulting bioweapons, is the stuff of nightmares to anyone that knows what it is capable of, and have seen all of its horrific results through the collective memories of the Xenomorph species and their infested victims.

"This is bad, if Gatou has gotten his hands on that substance that would mean that either Orochimaru or Danzou have successfully recreated it!" thought Kakashi. Considering the kind of people Orochimaru and Danzou are, the jounin just knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Ninja World suffers a doomsday event. Turning his attention to Naruto's general direction, he said, "Naruto, use your Xeno-Psyker form to inform Hokage-sama about the Black Liquid immediately."

Surprised, Naruto asked, "_Are you sure that's a good idea, Kakashi-sensei?_"

Shaking his head, Kakashi admitted, "To be honest, no. However, the sooner we can warn Konohagakure about the threat, the sooner we can prepare ourselves for the coming war against the hybrids. Just keep the message minimal."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto assumed his Xeno-Psyker form and began sending a telepathic message directly to Hiruzen. While certainly effective in sending messages across large distances as well as to communicate with multiple recipients, the method is potentially risky due to the possibility of having the message tapped by outsiders, especially by individuals which bear Xenomorphic traits, unless one has both the power necessary to send the message across and the control necessary to conceal and "encrypt" it. Although he certainly has the power, Naruto lacks the control necessary to properly conceal or encrypt the message hence the potential risk as he telepathically spoke, "_Warning… Source found… requesting immediate action…_"

Scene Change

Meanwhile, in Konohagakure, Hiruzen was signing documents as usual when he received the message, "_Warning… Source found… requesting immediate action…_"

Recognizing it to be Naruto's telepathic message, the elderly man was horrified by the implications as he knew what Naruto was talking about…

Scene Change

A Konohagakure support team was close to arriving at the Land of Waves when they "heard" the message Naruto had sent out. Dressed in concealing cloaks, the four individuals were shocked by what the message was implying.

The first to recover was the leader of the group, Mitarashi Anko, as she turned her attention towards her companions and asked, "You girls heard that?"

Nodding, one of the three girls spoke, "_We must hurry. The Source will make even weak humans dangerous._"

"_Naru-niichan needs our help more than ever now!_" cried the smallest of the girls. The third girl was silent but nodded in agreement with the other two.

"Right, let's pick up the pace and get there ASAP!" as Anko led the other three girls who are actually Naruto's sisters, Anko prayed, "I just hope we can complete this mission in time to rush back and protect Konohagakure…!"

Scene Change

Gatou, a short middle-aged man dressed in an expensive tuxedo was fuming. Not too long ago, he along with two of his most-trusted mercenaries went to Zabuza's current hideout to demand an explanation about his failure to kill the accursed bridge builder. Rather than apologize for his failure, the missing-nin from Kirirgakure actually had the nerve to demand more money due to the unexpectedly dangerous nature of the assassination mission. While Zabuza did indeed explain about the ninjas protecting Tazuna, namely Hatake Kakashi, his two genins who wielded unusual chakra-powered firearms and especially the strange tailed genin who can spit acid and transform into monstrous forms, the arrogant greedy man refused to accept his explanation. In a moment of petty rage, Gatou ordered his men to attack Zabuza to remind him of his place, only to watch in horror as Zabuza easily killed them with a single swipe of his still-damaged sword which started repairing itself before his eyes. Having lost his guards, Gatou was forced to agree to Zabuza's demands for a raise despite his apparent incompetence in assassinating the bridge builder.

Gritting his teeth at the memory, Gatou growled, "If I cannot even trust the so-called Demon of the Mist to get the job done properly, then I'll just have to deal with it my way!"

Arriving at one of his many hidden warehouses which store his illegal goods including drugs and even slaves, Gatou wore a cruel smirk as he took out a sealed vial that contains a black liquid. "No one gets the better of me, no one!"

Scene Change

"Wait, what do you mean by the mission being S-ranked?" asked a shocked Tazuna.

"Unfortunately, we cannot give you all the details but, suffice to say, Gatou is dealing with things that not even our Hokage will carelessly trifle with," explained a grim Kakashi.

"Is it some sort of super-secret ninja weapon that he could sell for a super-lot of money?" asked Tazuna.

Shaking his head in negative, Kakashi answered, "Close, but not quite, it's even more dangerous than that."

While Tsunami and Tazuna paled slightly, Naruto suddenly perked and said, "Guys, my sisters and their sensei are coming!"

Realizing who Naruto is referring to, Kakashi sighed in relief as he thought, "Good, if there is anyone who could help us deal with this problem, if would be them." Turning his attention to the tailed blond, Kakashi asked, "How soon will they arrive?"

Grinning, Naruto answered, "At the speed they're coming, in a couple of days."

Scene Change

Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, was busy testing his weapon which has the ability to repair itself by absorbing the blood of its victims. Thanks to Gatou's earlier "blood donation", the weapon is in much better condition than before although it still needs more blood to fully repair itself. While under Gatou's employ, Zabuza frankly despises him and had been planning to just kill him and take all of his money from the start. However, without knowing where he had hidden his money, killing him immediately will do little good.

"Zabuza-sama, how do you plan to kill the bridge builder?"

Turning his attention to an effeminate boy with black hair, large dark-brown eyes, pale-skin and a slender appearance, Zabuza replied, "If there is any way we can kill that bridge builder and get our pay, it would be by having you deal with those three brats while I deal with Kakashi. However, if by any chance they can somehow break past your techniques, things will get ugly for the both of us." While proud of his abilities and eager for a good fight, Zabuza is by no means a fool and knew that the three Konohagakure genin are not to be trifled with especially with Kakashi as their jounin instructor. Although confident that he could deal with the pink-haired girl and the brooding dark-haired boy who wielded those unusual weapons, Zabuza was admittedly less sure of tailed boy who could spit acid and change forms. There is also the fact that the effeminate boy, who is also his most loyal tool, had earlier encountered strange serpents which lack eyes and have black chitin for skin. Despite having eliminated the strange serpents, the fact that they dispelled into smoke upon dying indicates that they are probably summoned creatures and Zabuza has a suspicion of who is their summoner as he thought, "Just what the bloody hell is that tailed brat anyway?"

Deciding to worry about the tailed boy later, Zabuza turned his attention to his effeminate underling and said, "Have you prepared our travelling supplies?" Although the boy had killed the serpents, it never hurts to assume that their summoner already knows about their current location. As such, the two decided to shift to a separate location while Zabuza repairs his sword and Haku gathers any intelligence he could find concerning the Konohagakure team.

Nodding, the boy replied, "As well as traps for anyone foolish enough to break into this hideout."

Nodding in approval, Zabuza said, "Once my sword is fully repaired and we have a proper plan, we will deal with them!"

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Yes, this fanfiction has officially borrowed elements from the Prometheus film as well as The Thing, Halo, Metroid and C&C Tiberium Series. Admittedly, I'm following the early versions of tiberium which have plant-like traits. Hope you like this chapter and the possible conflicts this story will have.


	12. Chapter 11

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 11: Nightmare Wave, Part 1**

It has been a day ever since Tazuna's return to Wave with his escort from Konohagakure and the people helping him build the bridge were nervously paranoid. While perfectly understandable considering that they are struggling against Gatou who had made it clear that he would not tolerate anyone standing up to him on the day he executed Kaiza, their paranoia is more severe than usual for several reasons.

The first reason is that it is now known to them that Gatou has hired the infamous missing-nin, Zabuza, who is also known as the Demon of the Mist. Considering that the man had slaughtered a hundred ninja academy students while he himself is not even one at the time, they had a good reason to be afraid of the man. Knowing that Zabuza specializes in silent killing while moving through thick mists did nothing to reassure them considering how misty the bridge can be at times.

However, what really got them worried is the second reason as they found out from Tazuna that Gatou is handling some sort of drug or weapon so dangerous that the Konohagakure ninjas have decided to deem it as an S-ranked mission. While relieved that they would not be forced to pay that much money, the fact that Gatou has such dangerous items in his possession is terrifying to say the least. It is not hard for them to imagine that Gatou would use the said items to enforce his tyrannical rule over the Land of Wave and one does not have to be a genius to know that it would lead to terrible, terrible things.

Ironically, even one of the ninjas tasked to safeguard Tazuna is unnerving the workers. Then again, they did not have the time Konohagakure had to get used to Naruto's appearance or his mannerisms. After all, how often does one see a boy with a vertebra-like tail tipped by a sharp blade or wears an unusual mask which covers his eyes completely? Besides his appearance, Naruto would crawl on all fours like an alien beast whenever he decides to climb up or crawl under the bridge as he scouted around for any threats. The fact that he could make himself practically undetectable to the civilian builders made them even more nervous as they sometimes wondered if he was watching them from the sides, behind, below or above. There were times when a few of the bridge builders could swear they actually felt his hot breath as he breathed down their necks. Needless to say, Naruto was not very popular with them and they were all thankful when Kakashi took over his guard shift.

Scene Change

"Am I really all that scary? I mean, I was just curious about how they do their work!" complained a sulky Naruto as he left the construction site. Earlier that day, Kakashi decided to let Naruto take the first guard-duty shift at the bridge while the silver-haired man scouted the areas Naruto had discovered through his Shadow-Bursters. While Kakashi had not entered any of the buildings, just knowing where they are is good enough for the moment as their mission is to protect Tazuna until reinforcements arrive. As for Sakura and Sasuke, they were tasked in defending Tazuna's family.

Moving through the trees, Naruto wondered if he should hunt for dinner when he saw a pretty young woman walking through the forest. Curious about the girl who was out on her own in a forested area, Naruto got closer until he suddenly recognized who the young girl really was, "No way, she's actually a he!" Let it be said that Naruto has a keener sense of smell than normal humans and thus knew that the girl was actually a very pretty effeminate boy by his distinctively male scent which was cleverly concealed by perfume. Even more shocking however is that he is actually the same pretty person who took out his Shadow-Bursters near Zabuza's hideout. Although well aware that the boy is an enemy, Naruto nevertheless felt unexpectedly reluctant to kill him and decided to just capture him for interrogation. Besides, as Shikamaru would put it, "The less shogi pieces your enemy has, the greater your chances of winning the game."

Scene Change

Sasuke was guarding the house while Sakura went out with Tsunami to purchase some groceries when Naruto returned with an unconscious young woman wrapped in Xenomorph hive-webbing. Although already used to Naruto and his sisters' habit of hunting random game, outright kidnapping a young woman is new even to him. As such, Sasuke raised an eyebrow and asked, "Dobe, do I even want to know what you plan to do with her?"

Turning his gaze to the Uchiha boy, Naruto explained, "Two things. One, "she" is actually a very pretty "he". Two, "he" is one of Zabuza's allies." It was obvious that Naruto is stressing the fact that the captured person is indeed an effeminate boy.

Shocked by the revelations, Sasuke took a good look at the person Naruto was carrying and had to ask, "Wait, she's actually a guy?"

Nodding, Naruto confirmed, "Yup, not that I'm letting my hands go anywhere near "that" to double-check. If Midori-chan knows I did that, she'll never spare me the horror of her writings!"

Cringing at the mere mention about Midori's Uke Uke books, Sasuke said, "Well, just be sure that he does not escape."

Scene Change

The effeminate boy, the same boy who has willingly served Zabuza as his tool ever since the man took him in from the streets, was regaining consciousness when he realized that he was completely bound in some sort of black resin. Suddenly remembering that he was supposed to be gathering information about the Konohagakure ninjas, he panicked as he realized that he has been captured. The fact that he cannot even move his fingers to form any handseals only made his panic grow as a he saw a tailed shadowy form solidify from the shadows of the room that contained him. Immediately recognizing him to be the masked blond boy who could spit acid and strange black webbing, and probably summons those strange eyeless serpents as well, the captive boy was quite certain he had met his cruel end when the tailed boy suddenly spoke in a friendly manner, "Hi."

Gazing at the boy with his best "pleading damsel in distress" look, which is really heart-wrenchingly convincing, Haku tearfully asked, "Why… why have you captured me?"

After a moment of pause, the masked boy swore, "Damn, you're good. If I didn't know any better, I would have kicked myself for mistreating you. What's your name by the way?"

The captive boy had expected a number of reactions but he did not expect his captor to praise his acting so honestly although it also clearly meant that he was not fooled by it. Seeing no reason to continue with the act, not that it was entirely false considering he was honestly scared about what will happen to him, the boy said his name, "Haku."

Grinning, the tailed boy introduced himself, "Uzumaki Naruto." Squatting down, the boy continued to talk, "Don't get me wrong, I will kill you if I have to but I'd rather not unless it's necessary so you don't have to worry about me eating you alive or anything like that at the moment."

"Well, I suppose that's a bit reassuring," thought Haku who then asked, "Are you planning to torture me for information?"

"Personally, I'd rather not but we do definitely need information for our mission."

Glaring icily at Naruto, Haku growled, "If you're expecting me to reveal any information, you might as well as kill me now. I will not betray my precious person!"

Raising an eyebrow underneath his mask, Naruto then asked, "Do you actually care about Gatou?"

Surprised, Haku asked, "What?"

"I said do you care about Gatou?"

Like Zabuza, Haku honestly despises the man, more so in fact. As such, Haku gave a rather unfeminine snort as he spoke, "No, if it wasn't for the money I would never work for that scum."

Grinning, Naruto said, "Then you shouldn't have too many problems. Our real issue is with Gatou."

Although a bit surprised by the statement, Haku realized that as along as Gatou is alive, he can continue hiring more ninjas to kill Tazuna should Zabuza fail to do so. Therefore, it made sense to him that they would want to kill the business tycoon to prevent him from hiring any more assassins as well as discourage Zabuza from continuing with his present mission. Between protecting Gatou to get the money and letting him die in exchange that Zabuza is allowed to leave unharmed, assuming that these Konohagakure ninjas will actually allow that, Haku would certainly choose the latter option. Still, like any decent ninja, Haku is cautious as he asked, "Are you planning to kill Gatou?"

"Yeah, as soon as we're fully prepared to take him down for good," replied Naruto.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Sasuke and Sakura as the Uchiha boy disapprovingly said, "Dobe, you're not supposed to tell her… I mean him, anything about our mission."

Sakura on the other hand was shocked at how pretty Haku appeared as she thought, "He looks even prettier than I am…!"

Shrugging, Naruto said, "Hey, it's not like I'm revealing anything much and we won't be holding him for long considering our situation."

Although Haku saw the logic in getting rid of Gatou, he could not help but realize that the Konohagakure ninjas seem to be in a hurry for some reason, "Wait, what exactly is going on?"

Before Naruto could say what needed to be said, Sasuke cut in, "Classified."

Giving the other boy a mild glare, Naruto then said, "Like he said."

Now feeling curious despite his situation, Haku could not resists asking, "What does Gatou have that could possibly make it classified information?"

Shaking his head, Naruto sombrely spoke, "Trust me, you're better off not knowing."

Although still curious, Haku knew that the situation with Gatou must be far, far worse than just Tazuna's death or the destruction of the bridge. Even more frustrating is the fact that it was apparent that neither he nor Zabuza knew anything about it and the Konohagakure ninjas are not saying a single word to explain it. Regardless, Haku knew that the Konohagakure ninjas need reinforcements for whatever they are planning to do to kill Gatou which would be soon from the looks of it. The effeminate boy could only hope that Zabuza would not be caught in the coming crossfire…

Scene Change

When Kakashi took over Naruto's guard shift, he most certainly did not expect the boy to capture a really effeminate boy named Haku who turned out to have a connection with Zabuza. The silver-haired jounin was at a loss on what to do with the boy as he thought, "On one hand, we can use the boy as a hostage to get Zabuza to cooperate with us or at least keep him from killing Tazuna. On the other hand, will that method even work?" While Haku is undoubtedly loyal to Zabuza, the masked missing-nin might hold no such sentiments. The fact that Haku considers himself a useful but ultimately disposable tool for Zabuza and is fine with it only made Kakashi more convinced that Zabuza would not care for Haku's life. That particular revelation also angered Naruto which is understandable considering that jinchuuriki are often considered as merely powerful but unstable weapons of mass destruction as well as the fact that he is part Xenomorph which had been mistreated as mere living weapons as well.

Usually, Kakashi would immediately kill Haku after interrogating him but for some reason Naruto actually took a liking for the boy as he felt that Haku is not a bad person, at least not by his own choice. While tempted to tease Naruto by threatening to reveal that fact to Midori who will no doubt use it as inspiration for her next book, Kakashi understood why Naruto would think so. A victim of the bloodline purges in Kirigakure, Haku saw his own father kill his mother and had to kill him, along with the gathered mob that wanted to kill him, out of self-defence by using a bloodline ability which he shared with his mother, the Ice Release. After killing his father and the mob, Haku became a homeless child and literally lost reason to live until Zabuza took him in to raise him as his tool. Although well aware that Zabuza had done terrible things and only sees him as a living tool, Haku nevertheless felt deeply indebted to Zabuza and would gladly die for him as long as he is of use to him.

With Haku's willingness to die for Zabuza's sake, combined with Zabuza's own apparent heartlessness and Naruto's reluctance to harm the effeminate boy, Kakashi sighed as he wondered aloud in a quiet whisper, "Sensei, what would you have done in this situation?"

"Thinking about my dad again?"

Turning his attention to Naruto, who already knew the identity of his parents, Kakashi nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm just wondering what he would have done in my situation, which you're not really helping by the way."

Snorting a snicker, Naruto replied, "Look, I understand that we probably have to kill Haku but even you can understand why I won't like it."

Nodding in understanding, Kakashi said, "I do, but it does not change the fact that trying to save Haku will be difficult at best and impossible at worst. He had already made it quite clear that he would sooner die than betray Zabuza and, unless Zabuza is willing to cooperate with us, Haku will most likely die before this mission is over."

"And it's not like we can just tell anyone about the Source either since it's a village secret even greater than my own status as a jinchuuriki," admitted Naruto.

"Indeed. The fact that it even exists at all is a sign that a Fourth Ninja World War is just within the horizon, a war which may very well destroy all life on this world." Kakashi's expression was subtly pained as he recalled the precious people that he had lost during the previous third war.

"Well, if you want my personal opinion, I think we should tell Zabuza about it. If a non-ninja like Gatou-teme could get his hands on it, it probably means that there are a lot of other people with access to it too so it won't matter if Zabuza knows or not. Besides, the more people that know about the Source and how much it can mess up your biology, the more people would keep the hell away from it and anyone that uses it."

"Or it could lead to even more people using the Black Liquid and then falling under the control of whoever made that stuff," argued Kakashi.

"And keeping them ignorant will make things any better? You said it yourself that a fourth world war is coming and that it WILL involve more Xenomorph hybrids, a problem which will only grow worse if more people get infected by the Source."

Sighing, Kakashi said, "You do have a point but letting a Kirigakure missing-nin know a top-class village secret, especially one as infamously cold-hearted as Zabuza who left his village after a failed coup against his own Mizukage, is something no sane man would ever do under normal circumstances."

"Maybe, but this isn't normal circumstances and there is a chance that Gatou might already have an idea on what the Source is for. If he does, then what would stop him from using it against us if Zabuza fails to kill Tazuna?"

"That's assuming that Zabuza even believes our story which, by the way, all started because you made that unusual summoning seal that brought a Xenomorph Royal Facehugger from a completely separate universe to our own," deadpanned Kakashi.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he replied, "Okay, you got me on that one." One does not have to a genius to know that the story is quite unbelievable and how it would reflect badly on the blond boy even though it is Orochimaru and Danzou who actually made the situation as bad as it currently was.

It would only be later on that same day when Kakashi finally decided to take his next course of action regarded Zabuza…

Scene Change

Zabuza was wearing an unmistakable scowl as Haku had not returned from his scouting mission. Knowing that the boy is usually punctual, the fact that he is hours late could only mean that he had been captured or killed by enemies strong enough to do so. Well aware that the Konohagakure ninjas are his opponents for his current mission, Zabuza correctly deduced that they are the ones who captured or killed Haku although he cannot help but wonder how they managed to do so as the boy wields a powerful bloodline ability that would give even jounin such as Kakashi a hard time. Granted, they could have worked together as a team to take Haku down but the fact that there is no obvious signs of battle meant that Haku might have been defeated without even having a chance to counter his assailants with his own abilities. Besides, Zabuza knew that they were not together as a whole team for the entire day as they took turns guarding Tazuna at the bridge, resting at his home and guarding his two remaining family members. There is of course one person whom Zabuza knew wielded unusual and powerful abilities of his own, abilities which Zabuza has minimal concrete information of. However, the mere thought that a genin of Konohagakure, albeit an unusual one, could take down a ninja of Haku's level only worsened Zabuza's mood as it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Wielding his fully-repaired sword, courtesy of gutting a few miserable scumbags including a man that actually tried to molest a young girl, Zabuza knew that he cannot face the Konohagakure ninjas on his own.

It was therefore quite surprising for the masked missing-nin to see an unusual black serpent which lacked eyes and has chitin for skin holding a letter in between its sharp ivory teeth like a freakishly alien puppy. Recognizing the creature to be the unusual summoned beasts that Haku dealt with before, Zabuza knew that the masked blond boy must have sent it to him and read the letter after the serpent dispelled itself in a puff of black smoke. As he read the letter, Zabuza realized two things. The first fact is that Haku is alive and that the Konohagakure ninjas are willing to peacefully negotiate with him. The second fact on the other hand is more unusual as it seems that they know something about Gatou that he himself is not aware off. Although Zabuza knew that it could possibly be a trap, he nevertheless decided to meet the Konohagakure ninjas if only to confirm that Haku is still alive.

Deciding to arrive at the meeting place early, Zabuza was surprised that the Konohagakure ninjas were already waiting for him with a bound and gagged Haku who is otherwise apparently unharmed. The fact that Kakashi is an infamous slacker, a fact known even by ninjas from other hidden ninja villages, only made the sight all the more surprising for the mask missing-nin. Raising a barely-visible eyebrow, Zabuza said, "I'm surprised. I would have thought that you Konohagakure ninjas would have been a bit late or be on time at earliest considering who is the leader of your team."

Kakashi had the decency to appear sheepish as he explained, "Well, Naruto was aware that you were coming early and so decided to meet you earlier than scheduled."

Amused at seeing Kakashi's sheepish expression, Zabuza almost smirked as he asked, "I suppose it's one of his special abilities which are obviously clan secrets?"

"You could put it that way," replied Kakashi who then said, "Now, to the matter at hand…" Motioning his chin towards Haku, Kakashi said, "As promised, we have brought Haku to our meeting place. We know that you cannot face our entire team by yourself and, unless you have more underlings than we expected, you are pretty much on your own unless we return Haku to you."

"That is indeed true. What I do not understand is what you lot know about Gatou that would actually persuade me into joining forces with you even after considering having Haku freed and back to my side. Sure, Gatou is hardly the best client we can hope for but he pays damned good money which is why we even bothered letting ourselves be hired by him in the first place."

Understanding Zabuza's reasoning, Kakashi explained, "For one thing, we know that Haku is far more valuable than just mere money." Zabuza frowned as he suspected that the Konohagakure ninjas already knew about Haku's unique bloodline ability while Kakashi continued to explain, "Secondly, as you yourself have stated, Gatou is hardly the best client to hope for and I would not be surprised if he would kill you and Haku if given the chance." Hearing Kakashi's statement about Gatou made Zabuza snort in derisive agreement as Gatou was indeed that sort of person given the fact that he had the gall to actually challenge him.

"Alright, you have made two good points there but that still does not explain why I should turn on Gatou since I'm already well aware that Haku would gladly die for me and that Gatou is that sort of scum, not that I can be choosy with my clients considering that I'm a missing-nin as you can already tell. Tell me something that is actually worth listening to and I might just consider."

Seeing that Zabuza was not convinced, Kakashi sighed as he asked, "Tell me, how much do you know about Gatou's… less legal business ventures?"

Slightly surprised, Zabuza answered, "Drugs, weapons, slaves, the usual black market crap." Narrowing his eyes, Zabuza asked, "Why?"

"Let us just say that we have recently discovered something extremely dangerous in Gatou's possession and that we are willing to let you kill him and take half of his money in exchange for your cooperation. The other half will be given to the local people to help them overcome their poverty," replied Kakashi.

Rubbing his chin, Zabuza pondered for a moment before he asked, "While I'm perfectly fine with killing that damned midget, what exactly does he have that is so dangerous that you would actually offer a truce with me, the infamous Demon of the Mist?"

"What if I told you that he is trying to sell a drug that will give even ordinary civilians dangerous bloodline abilities such as say… the same bloodline ability that my tailed genin here possesses?" asked the seemingly casual Kakashi.

Not expecting Kakashi's explanation, Zabuza's eyes then widened in shock as he stared at Naruto for a moment before turning his attention back to Kakashi and incredulously asked, "Are you shitting me?"

Shaking his head, Kakashi explained, "Unfortunately, no. While I won't tell you the exact details, I'm sure you can imagine why we need to eliminate him immediately before those drugs get into the hands of people that will abuse them. Let any bandit group get their hands on these drugs and a C-ranked mission will become B-rank or above, easily."

Seeing no deceit in Kakashi's masked expression and realizing that he is telling the truth, albeit not the entire truth, Zabuza was forced to accept his explanation. As a former ninja of Kirigakure, Zabuza is well aware of the bloodline purges and personally felt that the purges are nothing more than a waste of talent. Having Haku as his ally only reaffirmed that belief and Zabuza was tempted to take the drugs instead and use them to help rebuild his rebellion against the current Mizukage. However, he knew that Kakashi was not telling everything about the drugs as he asked, "And how exactly did you manage to find out so much about the drugs? It's not every day you hear about civilians or regular bandits suddenly gaining powerful bloodline abilities after all."

"Unfortunately, that much is classified information," replied Kakashi.

"I don't suppose it has anything to do with Orochimaru, does it?" asked Zabuza. Orochimaru's infamy as a cruel mad scientist of a ninja is quite well-known among the ninja community.

"Like I said, classified," replied Kakashi who then narrowed in eye as he asked, "So, will you cooperate with us and kill Gatou or do we have to deal with you first?" It was clear to everyone present that Kakashi is prepared to kill Zabuza if necessary.

After a moment of tense silence, Zabuza said, "Let me speak to Haku first. Then I'll make my decision." Nodding in understanding, Kakashi motioned for Naruto to undo the gag on Haku. After Naruto undid the gag, Zabuza asked with more concern that he would have liked to admit, "Did they hurt you?"

Shaking his head, Haku shamefully replied, "No, they have not, Zabuza-sama. I deeply apologize for letting myself be captured so easily."

Convinced that he was indeed speaking to Haku, Zabuza then asked, "Are you willing to trust them?" Although a seemingly simple question, Haku knew what Zabuza really meant, "Is everything they said about the drug true? Will the Konohagakure ninjas turn on us even if it is true? Do you believe risking our lives by helping them will be worth it? If not, I will do whatever it takes to survive even if it means leaving you behind."

"Yes, I'm willing to trust them for now," replied Haku. Like Zabuza, Haku saw no deceit in their words or actions thus far. While it is obvious that they are hiding possibly important facts, such as the possible side-effects of the drugs they mentioned, such secrets are common among ninjas.

Realizing that Haku truly believes that he is better off working together with the Konohagakure ninjas, Zabuza lowered his guard slightly and said, "Alright, looks like we have a deal." His eyes narrowed menacingly as he added, "But do anything funny to me or Haku and I will make sure at least one of your brats die, understood?"

Although it was clear that Zabuza was not making an idle threat, Kakashi was honestly a little relieved as he replied, "Right, right." While Zabuza was peeved at Kakashi's seemingly nonchalant reply, he turned his attention to Naruto and said, "Okay, you can let Haku go."

Grinning, Naruto said, "And don't forget you owe me for the bet!" Kakashi winced as he knew he would regret paying for Naruto's "ramen bill" for losing the bet. The boy's appetite for ramen can put even the ever-hungry Akamichi clan to shame.

Once freed, Haku wasted no time to return back to Zabuza's side. With Haku back by his side, Zabuza quickly gazed over the effeminate boy and was satisfied that Haku was indeed real, apparently unharmed and was not under any form of mental control. And so, with the deal made, the two groups became allies and waited patiently for Naruto's sisters and their jounin instructor to arrive which Naruto expected to be later on that same day…

Scene Change

Before long, Anko's team arrived and, after a short but happy reunion between the tailed siblings, the combined group proceeded to plan out their strategy against Gatou. As to how they arrived so quickly without help, all three of Naruto's sisters can assume fish-like Xeno-Swimmer forms to swim while Anko can summon a snake to bring her across.

"So, do we just bust in there or do we sneak in and silently kill everyone inside?" asked Zabuza. It was already nightfall and it would be an excellent time for infiltration and assassination, especially for the tailed Uzumaki siblings.

Shaking her head, Hoyuki answered, "_Stealth, key to winning with minimal casualties._"

"_I agree with Hoyuki-chan here. If they know we're busting in, they'll probably try to use those drugs which will cause all sorts of bloody messes,_" said Naruto who was in his Xeno-praetorian form. While not necessary to maintain the created Shadow-Bursters or other Shadow-Xenomorphs as they can act independently after their creation, the Xeno-Form is necessary to both create them and maintain constant telepathic contact with them, including receiving telepathic feedback from the said Shadow-Xenomorphs. Despite the limitations, Naruto and his sisters can still give them mental commands to attack or defend a target even while in their default humanoid forms. They can also use their Xeno-Psyker form to maintain constant telepathic contact with them at an even greater range but without the ability to create more Shadow-Xenomorphs. Another difference is that the Xeno-Psyker form is more suitable for telepathic communication, psychic interrogation and mental attacks while the Xeno-Praetorian form is capable of fighting viciously. However, while tougher and stronger than a typical Xeno-Warrior, a Xeno-Praetorian is generally not as agile.

Kakashi, Anko, Sasuke and Sakura all shuddered after hearing Naruto's statement, thus causing Zabuza and Haku to feel a little worried as they wondered just what kind of "bloody mess" Naruto could possibly be implying. Already the fact that his three sisters could naturally speak with their thoughts alone is a little unnerving never mind the fact of how easily they seemingly melt into the shadows to the point that even Zabuza's keen hearing had difficulty in detecting them. "If that brat can move that silently unseen in the shadows like his sisters, it's no wonder why Haku can't sense him until it was too late to avoid capture in that forest," Zabuza silently swore.

"As much as I hate to argue against your reasoning, but that's assuming that they haven't already tested the drug," said Sakura. As a medic-nin in training as well as the daughter of a civilian trader, she knew that Gatou may test the drugs on helpless victims to test their authenticity.

"She does have a point, Dobe. If they have already tested the drug, any advantage we may have in stealth could very well be compromised already," said Sasuke.

"_Maybe, but none of my bursters found anyone using the drugs the last time they checked so we should still have the advantage. I also already sent another swarm to double-check for anyone using the drug… aw snap, you guys just had to say it!_" groaned Naruto.

Kakashi sighed as he asked, "Let me guess, they already tested the drug and one of the users killed your bursters."

"_That and killing or infecting anyone else in its way._"

"Wait, what do you mean by "infecting"?" asked Zabuza.

"We call it a drug but it's more like a virus or a germ that adds a bloodline limit to your body. It allows the user gain a permanent copy of the bloodline ability but, as you know, all drugs can have side effects especially if they end up behaving like a disease," explained Kakashi. As before, Kakashi spoke the truth, just not the whole truth.

Understanding the terrible implications, Zabuza growled in displeasure, "Is that why two of your brats have those weird chakra weapons? To kill the "infected" from a safe distance?" It was obvious that Zabuza was becoming increasingly suspicious of the Konohagakure ninjas.

Sighing, Kakashi admitted, "Unfortunately that it not far from the truth." Raising his hand, Kakashi added, "And before you even ask, our Hokage never authorized the creation of the drugs. It was made by someone who is presently a missing-nin from our village."

While not satisfied with Kakashi's response, Zabuza was willing to trust him as he asked Naruto, "So how many used the drug or are infected? From your body language alone I can tell that you lot need to act quickly before it gets any worse."

"_Not sure, but it does mean that we can forget about careful planning and start hunting everything infected by the drug. If we don't, troublesome won't even begin to describe it!_"

"Any idea on how far they have spread and their movement?" asked Kakashi.

"_They haven't left the warehouse yet but that's because they are too busy killing Gatou's men… oh, and Gatou is running out of there like a bat out of hell._"

Relieved that the "drug users" have yet to move far from the warehouses which contained the drugs, Kakashi quickly ordered the gathered group, "Alright, our mission is simple. We go there, burn the entire place to the ground and kill every infected we meet."

Raising her hand, Sakura asked, "What about survivors, Kakashi-sensei?"

Knowing that the sheltered girl will not like it, not that Naruto or his sisters will like it either despite their inhuman traits, Kakashi reluctantly spoke, "We are to assume that everyone in there is either dead, infected or not worth saving. If we allow ourselves to think otherwise, we risk letting the infected run free and kill even more people."

Shocked, Sakura was about to protest when Zabuza nodded, "As good a plan as any. Let's go."

With almost everyone in agreement, they were about to make their move when Sakura asked, "Wait, we can't just kill everyone, what if there are still innocents alive in there?"

Hearing Sakura's protest, Kakashi sighed and asked, "Naruto, are there any innocents still alive in there?" While he knew that they cannot afford to take the risk, Kakashi also understood Sakura's unwillingness to potentially kill an innocent. Alas, ninjas are expected to do as they are hired for even if it means killing an innocent or protecting scum like Gatou, and Kakashi is no exception.

Understanding Sakura's reluctance and Kakashi's request, Naruto shook his head, "_No, my surviving bursters found no one. If there were any, they either escaped or died one way or another._"

While not completely convinced by Naruto's report, Sakura remained quiet as Kakashi spoke, "Then it is settled, we will proceed as we originally planned. Move out!"

Scene Change

Gatou was running more desperately for his life than he ever thought was possible. Just moments ago, he decided to test the new drug he had obtained from his mysterious supplier, the same supplier that supplied him the Chakra-Zip drug. Like most drugs, Chakra-Zip is addictive but has the bonus effect of making a person faster, stronger, more aggressive and nearly immune to pain as well as completely restore their chakra reserves in mere seconds. Needless to say, the drug is immensely popular with many rogue ninjas as well as various bandit gangs once they realized that its effects are tested and true. As for the new drug, Liquid-Xeno, it was supposed to grant a person the ability to change into a powerful monster, an effect made more powerful by using it together with the Chakra-Zip. Not surprisingly, Gatou was thrilled with the prospect of having his own army of loyal monsters and, after seeing Zabuza's apparent incompetence, decided to put the new drug to the test. As for his attempt to create one, it did not quite go as planned…

Flashback

Gatou was smirking cruelly as he had his men force a sickly slave into a cage. Made out of reinforced steel, the cage is difficult for even a ninja to break through brute force alone. After the slave was secured inside the cage which is kept inside a room made out of solid concrete with only one reinforced steel door for entry and exit, Gatou had his men procure a syringe-like hollow crossbow bolt which contained a mixture of both Chakra-Zip and Liquid-Xeno. While Charka-Zip is normally a pill meant to be ingested like typical Soldier Pills used by ninjas, Liquid-Xeno is a black liquid and can be used to dissolve the said pills. From what Gatou understood, the Liquid-Xeno is equally effective whether it is ingested or injected. Gatou decided to use the injection method as it saved him and his men the trouble of force-feeding a man that would soon become a monster. Loading the crossbow bolt, one of Gatou's men then shot the slave and managed to hit him in the leg. Quickly leaving the room, Gatou watched in morbid fascination as the slave started to change form.

The first sign of change was when black veins started to form on the man's skin, agonizingly too if the man's horrified and pained expression was of any indication. This was soon followed by more changes as the man's nails started to rip off as viciously sharp black claws grew beneath them and his scrawny body started to become more muscular. Gatou was honestly shocked when he saw the claws scraping against the steel cage, leaving notable claws marks which meant that the cage, and possibly even the reinforced door, might not be able to contain the developing beast. His shock quickly changed into worry when the man's eyes turned completely black, finally stopped gritting his teeth and started to scream.

To say that the scream was horrific is to make an understatement of the nightmarish. The scream was so unlike anything Gatou and his men were used to hearing that it could be described as completely alien and yet still retained enough of a recognizable human quality for anyone to realize that it is a scream of agony, horror and terror. As the unfortunate slave screamed, more changes started to occur as his teeth started to fall out to be replaced by sharp fangs. His internal bone structure also started to change as his limbs became bony in appearance and his vertebra started to protrude from his back while his skin started to resemble more like hairless chitin. Finally, four tentacles suddenly burst out of his upper back followed by a tail which erupted from the base of his spine, all of which caused the steel cage to dent as they thrashed about wildly. After the last change, the man finally stopped screaming and became deathly still, the rise and fall of his chest the only indication that the creature which was once a man is still alive.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Gatou was honestly glad that the transformation was over and was about to order his men to tranquilize the creature to be kept in a more secure location when the creature suddenly opened its completely black eyes and rose back onto its feet. Larger than the man the creature once was, it was cramped inside the cage and obviously wanted out as it growled and then roared as it started to tear at the cage. Panicking, Gatou immediately ordered his men to release the tranquilizing gas. Needing no further encouragement, his men immediately filled the chamber with the gas.

However, just as the gas started to fill into the chamber, the creature suddenly tore through the bars of its cage with inhuman ease. Wasting no time, the creature immediately leapt for the door and started punching it with its fist. Gatou's confidence that he could contain the beast dropped like lead weights when he saw the creature's fist denting the door, badly. As he creature started to tear the door off its hinges, Gatou knew that his men had no chance to dealing with that monster without suffering severe casualties, assuming that they can even hope to contain it. After ordering his men to go and control the situation, Gatou realized to his horror that the monster not only managed to easily tear its way through to freedom, it was also terrifyingly efficient as a living killing machine as it used its tentacles, claws and fangs to tear his panicked guards apart. Even more horrifying however is the fact that the monster was somehow creating more of its own kind by infecting his dying men with its own black-coloured secretions from its mouth, tentacles and even its blood. Realizing that victory is impossible, Gatou immediately made an escape to flee from the rampaging monster he had created and its terrible spawn…

Flashback End

After running away from one of his many "upgraded" warehouses for what felt like hours, Gatou calmed down for a short while before his mind started to think, "I need to get out of here… as soon as I secure all of my profits, shares and viable investments!"

"Going somewhere?"

Feeling his heart almost jump out of his mouth, Gatou turned around to face a smirking Zabuza and his masked ally, Haku. Realizing that he was without his men who are currently busy dealing with the rampaging monster and his money which he would need to bribe Zabuza with, Gatou trembled in terror as he wondered how to weasel his way out of his current predicament. The short man never knew what hit him as a certain red-haired tailed girl descended upon him, pinning him down with her clawed hands.

Panicking, Gatou was about to beg Zabuza and Haku to save him when the girl snarled, "For your crimes, your punishment is death!"

Terrified by her spoken words, Gatou gazed at Zabuza and Haku in a desperate plea for help when Zabuza shrugged and said, "If you want us to save you, you'll have to triple my pay and give it to me, now."

Knowing that he did not have that much money on him, Gatou nevertheless was about to lie when the girl who wore a mask that only hid her eyes suddenly changed into a monster and felt a searing pain in his brain. Feeling like his brain was literally being fried, Gatou screamed in agony and eventually was no more…

Scene Change

After Hoyuki, in her Xeno-Psyker form, extracted all the information she needed out of Gatou's mind, which had the side effect of effectively turning the man's brain into liquid mush that was leaking out of his ears, eyes and nose, she shared the information she acquired with her siblings. Information which contained a few facts that the Third Hokage would most certainly need to know once their current mission is over. For now however, completing the mission to destroy the monsters Gatou had created takes top priority.

After relaying the information, she, alongside with Zabuza and Haku, rushed to the warehouse to contain the growing Xeno threat…

Scene Change

Naruto, Midori and Shiroko were rushing to warehouse alongside with Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke when they received Hoyuki's information. Frowning at the information he had received, Naruto, who is currently in his default humanoid form, quickly informed Kakashi, "Hoyuki-chan has already intercepted Gatou and extracted all the information in his brain. We will rendezvous with her, Zabuza and Haku at one of his warehouses located near one of the ports."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Kakashi asked, "Is there anything we need to know about the monsters we will be facing?"

"Just that there used to be only one but, like I said before, it's killing and infecting people. Also, Gatou has entire crates filled with the stuff that they call Liquid-Xeno and Chakra-Zip inside an underground storage chamber so we definitely need to burn those. The worst part though, that damned midget actually used the two drugs together to create the first monster!"

Hearing Naruto's last statement, Kakashi frowned as he knew the implications. When used on a normal human, Xenomorph royal jelly, the main ingredient of the Chakra-Zip drug, would simply act as an addictive drug. When used on Xenomorphs however, it would transform even a typical drone into a Queen capable of producing her own eggs. The silver-haired man did not even want to know what kind of effect using the two "drugs" together would have on any unfortunate test subject. His sentiment was shared by both Sakura and Sasuke who now knew how the creature could infect people to create more monsters due to the possibility of it behaving like a Xenomorph Brood Carrier.

"Did any of the monsters attack any of the crates filled with either item?" asked Kakashi.

"Not sure, I can't contact my bursters without assuming my Xeno-Praetorian form or my Xeno-Psyker form and both forms are a bit slower than my default form," replied Naruto.

"How about getting there quickly with your Xeno-Runner form and then use your Xeno-Praetorian form to contact your bursters while waiting for us? You can also use your Shadow-Xenomorphs to help contain the situation while waiting for us." asked Kakashi.

"That could work. Midori-chan, follow me. Shiroko-chan, stay with them and lead the way."

"_You got it, Naru-Niichan!_" replied Midori while a calmer Shiroko said, "_Understood, brother._"

Quickly assuming their Xeno-Runner forms, Naruto and Midori quickly ran on all fours towards their destination…

Scene Change

Thanks to their increased speed, Naruto and Midori soon arrived at the site where Gatou's "upgraded" warehouses, which have underground chambers to keep illegal black market goods and run "illegal entertainment", are located. Wasting no time, Naruto immediately assumed his Xeno-Praetorian form while Midori assumed her Xeno-Brute form. Upon assuming his Xeno-Form, Naruto swore, "_Damn, it's already starting to become a hive._" Creating a sizeable swarm of Shadow-Xenomorphs including drones, warriors, bursters, arachnoids and runners, Naruto then instructed, "_All of you, surround the area and kill any infected that tries to leave. Half of you stay outside to ensure that none of the infected escape while the other half go into the buildings and kill any infected encountered, especially the leader. Non-infected are to be guided to me and any non-infected that tries to leave the area with the Source or the Royal Jelly must be stopped at all costs. Now go!_" Naruto may be willing to risk killing even innocents to ensure that the infection does not spread and destroy the Ninja World but he would be damned before he does not even try to save any of them. Besides, his Shadow Xenomorphs should be able to easily tell the difference between an infected and a non-infected.

Although Naruto can create a larger swarm of Shadow-Xenomorphs than any of his sisters thanks to his larger chakra reserves, his ability to control them all effectively is lacking unlike Hoyuki who has the best control over her swarm. Of course, there are times when numbers are more important than fine control and the current situation easily counts as such a time.

Needing no further instruction, the swarm spread our around the buildings, using their numbers and senses to detect any escaping infected and relaying all important information to Naruto. Naruto sighed in relief at it seemed that the infected have not left the building, yet. However, he also knew that there is a chance that the monsters, which are indeed a variation of a human-xenomorph hybrid, are simply gathering their strength before proceeding to spread out. "_It's a good thing that I still have a few bursters left inside the buildings to scout around since those monsters are too big to squeeze in and eliminate all of them. I just hope they don't decide to break those boxes open because I don't even want to know what will happen if they do._"

Able to know what Naruto is thinking through their shared mental link, Midori said, "_Naru-niichan, Hoyu-neechan thinks that if they break the boxes, they will change even more and become stronger._"

"_And that's exactly what I'm worried about!_"

Scene Change

It had been a few mere hours ever since Gatou created the first monster and already it had killed or infected just about everyone present in the warehouse buildings. The monster that Gatou had created from a male human slave, a creature which would later be dubbed as Xenowave-Prime, would have left the buildings along with its "children", the Xenowave-Spawn, to seek out new prey and a proper nesting site had it not been for two reasons. The first reason is that Xenowave-Prime was preparing to moult into a true breeding adult, a female adult at that. The second reason is that it knew the humans somehow have a stockpile of both the Source and the Royal Jelly somewhere inside the buildings. If it could find both substances before moulting, Xenowave-Prime would be able to become stronger and perhaps even become a mother of queens, a Queen Mother. Seeking out the two substances by smell, Xenowave-Prime knew that they are near and would claim them as its own.

Suddenly, its equivalent of a human nose smelled the scent of the Source and the Royal Jelly. Moving towards the source of the two scents at a hurried pace, it quickly found the storage room and knew it would be the perfect place to complete its metamorphosis. The door that blocked its way, the boxes that contained the two substances, and even the annoying black serpents that tried to tear off its throat could do nothing to stand in its way…

Scene Change

As soon as the ninjas managed to regroup, Naruto swore, "_They found the drugs, and their leader is consuming them while moulting!_"

"We know," replied Kakashi who found out through Shiroko.

Also aware of the fact that the monsters found the drugs through Hoyuki, Zabuza asked, "So what are we waiting for? Let's burn these damned buildings and and kill whatever flees out of it!" At that moment, roars and shrieks could be heard as Naruto's Shadow-Xenomorphs viciously engaged the Xenowave-Spawns.

While Zabuza, Haku, Sasuke and Sakura were unnerved by the horrific sounds, Kakashi deadpanned, "Well, now's as good a time to start a fire as any."

-Chapter Fin-

Note: Just so you know, the monster Gatou created is like a half-human hybrid of a Trilobite, the face-hugging tentacle monster from the Prometheus film. Also, please note that my work is getting busier lately not to mention that I am also trying to write down chapters of my other fanfiction works, including a few possible new ones, so it might take a while for updates between chapters.


	13. Adoption Announcement

**Naruto: Xenonin**

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction, neither of which is my own. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter N/A: Sad Announcements and Hopeful Adoptions**

As it is apparent that I am now too busy to write my fanfiction stories due to my work and other interests, I am officially putting them up for adoption, including Naruto: Xenonin.

I will put up my remaining stories for adoption as well but please be aware that I will only officially put them up for adoption after I put a few ideas in for any potential writers to use should they decide to adopt my stories. Also, I would require a PM from anyone who wants to adopt my stories although a story can be adopted by more than one capable writer.

I deeply apologize to anyone who was hoping for updates from me and I thank everyone who had been kind enough to support me for my stories in spite of the recent lack of updates. My requests are that those who adopt my stories acknowledge my part for inspiring them, to use their own writing styles from start to finish for the sake of good writing flow, and that they keep character bashing to a reasonable minimum.

Without further ado, here are some ideas, which I would like to see implemented but are otherwise not mandatory, which I had for Naruto: Xenonin before my decision to put it up for adoption…

Ideas/Drabbles

First of all, with Orochimaru and Danzo having the Xenomorph materials, they will become the "Big Bads" of Naruto: Xenonin, not Tobi. The reason: The "Eye of the Moon Plan" would probably be useless against the hive-minded and generally-eyeless Xenomorphs. Also, you can have either one of them damaging or even destroying Akatsuki with their Xenomorph hybrids.

I intended Zabuza and Haku to survive the Wave Arc and maybe act as messengers to warn every one of the growing Xenomorph threat. Alternatively, they can join and become Konohagakure ninjas.

Orochimaru will still attempt to gain the Sharingan so that he can master every non-bloodline jutsu in existence but he will also accelerate his plan of gaining bloodlines as well (like how "Kabuto-maru" gained his added abilities) by using Xenomorph genetics as a matrix. Feel free for Orochimaru's attempt to use Xenomorph material on himself going horribly wrong. Also, you can have Sasuke becoming a Xenomorph hybrid as a result of Orochimaru's "Xeno-Seal" which would also applied to the Sound Genin team as test subjects. Kimimaro can also receive the seal as an attempt to cure his illness. Other than Orochimaru, Hiruko would also be interested in order to perfect his Chimera Technique while Amachi will also be interested and will use Isaribi as a test subject for added Xenomorph traits on his Kaima project.

Sakura and Sasuke, as noted in the story, are somewhat different from their original canon counterparts in Xenonin after graduation due to the extra lessons on combating Xenomorphs, and becoming more competent as a result. Therefore, feel free to make it such that Sasuke would not abandon Konohagakure, thereby preventing all of that damned drama and angst after the time skip period which I do personally feel is unnecessary. The rest of the rookie/genin Konohagakure ninjas would also be made more competent thus surprising anyone who had a low opinion about them.

Haruno Yutani will be an antagonist but mostly in the financial sense as she provides aid to Danzo. As to what would happen to her, I wanted her to receive her comeuppance but hadn't quite gotten to the details yet. Also, her punishment/demise would affect Sakura in some way (and Yutani does love Sakura in her own way so redemption is not completely impossible but also extremely unlikely).

Naruto's Xenojutsu abilities would include transforming himself into a Bijuu-sized Xenomorph "King" and using Xenomorph webbing like Harashima's Mokuton (other Xenomorph-hybrids can potentially use the said abilities).

I was considering having Itachi killed or grievously wounded by Orochimaru's new Xenomorph-hybrids either as a result of Orochimaru's attempt to gain the Sharingan or as a means of testing his new hybrid monsters (say what you will but Itachi royally screwed up when he influenced his younger brother so I have little sympathy for him). However, it is possible for Itachi to is accepted back into Konohagakure provided that he admits the truth about the Uchiha Massacre and explain about the Xenomorph-hybrids attacking Akatsuki/Amegakure (Nagato and Konan can also be accepted back). I would leave Sasuke's reaction to you but I expect a realistic response from not only Sasuke but also from others (in response to both the truth of the Massacre and Sasuke's reaction towards it). If Sasuke decides to turn against Konohagakure, I would wish that Naruto and the others will not go through unrealistic lengths to "save him" like what had happened in canon (I can accept Naruto wanting to rescue Sasuke but there is a limit to how much you can forgive/accept someone who had not only betrayed you and tried to kill you but even abandoned his own comrades/subordinates).

The Fourth Ninja World War will be a war between the ninjas and their allies against the Xenomorph-hybrids created by Orochimaru of Danzo. As for the Juubi, it will not be able to do anything if the Bijuu are not collected into the statue so I imagine having the Akatsuki attacked by Xenomorph-hybrids preventing that from happening. Also, the fourth war will change the Ninja World, forever (imagine the Ninja World becoming something like Xenomorph Prime if the protagonists lose the war).

Like what I had said before, the stated ideas are optional. If you wish to adopt my story, please PM me to let me know and respect my wishes to have my contribution acknowledged. Also, I recommend using your own writing style form start to finish.

Again, I deeply apologize for disappointing everyone and I hope that this story, along with the rest, will be adopted by those who will bring out their full potential. May your stories inspire the hearts of others…


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